第56章 JASMIN'S VINEYARD--'MARTHA THE INNOCENT.'(3)

At the close of the recitation,the assembly,ravished with his performance,threw him a wreath of flowers and laurels--more modest,though not less precious than the golden branch which they had previously conferred upon him.Jasmin thanked them most heartily for their welcome."My Muse,"he said,"with its glorious branch of gold,little dreamt of gleaning anything more from Toulouse;but Toulouse has again invited me to this day's festival,and I feel more happy than a king,because my poem is enthroned in the midst of the Capitol.Your hands have applauded me throughout,and you have concluded by throwing this crown of flowers at my feet."It was then resolved to invite Jasmin to a banquet.Forty ladies,the cream of Toulousian society,organised the proceedings,and the banquet was given at the palace of M.de Narbonne.At the end of the proceedings a young lady stepped forward,and placed upon the poet's head a crown of immortelles and violets joined together by a ribbon with golden threads,on which was inscribed in letters of gold,"Your thoughts are immortal!"Was not this enough to turn any poor poet's head?

The ladies clapped their hands.What could Jasmin say?

"It is enough,"he said "to make angels jealous!"The dinner ended with a toast to the author of Martha,who still wore the crown upon his brow.

It is impossible to describe the enthusiasm with which the poet was received all through the South.At Dax,the ladies,for want of crowns of laurels to cover him,tore the flowers and feathers from their bonnets,and threw them at his feet.In another town the ladies rose and invaded the platform where Jasmin stood;they plucked from his button-hole the ribbon of the Legion of Honour,and divided it amongst them,as a precious relic of their glorious poet.

He was received at Gers and Condon with equal enthusiasm.

At Condon he charmed his audience with his recitations for about five hours.Frenzies of applause greeted him.He was invited to a banquet,where he received the usual praises.When the banquet was over,and Jasmin escaped,he was met in the street by crowds of people,who wished to grasp him by the hand.He recited to them in the open air his poem of charity.They compared Jasmin to O'Connell;but the barber of Agen,by the power which he exercised for the good of the people,proved himself more than equal to the greatest of agitators.

Sainte-Beuve quotes with keen enjoyment[4]the bantering letter which Jasmin sent to Peyrottes,a Provencal poet,who challenged him to a poetical combat.It was while he was making one of his charitable tours through Languedoc,that Jasmin received the following letter (24December,1847):-"SIR,--I dare,in my temerity,which may look like hardihood,to propose to you a challenge.Will you have the goodness to accept it?In the Middle Ages,the Troubadours did not disdain such a challenge as that which,in my audacity,I now propose to you.

"I will place myself at your disposal at Montpellier on any day and at any hour that may be most convenient to you.We shall name four persons of literary standing to give us three subjects with which we are to deal for twenty-four hours.We shall be shut up together.Sentries will stand at the door.Only our provisions shall pass through.

"A son of Herault,I will support the honour and the glory of my country!And as in such circumstances,a good object is indispensable,the three subjects given must be printed and sold for the benefit of the Creche of Montpellier."Peyrotte ended his letter with a post,in which he said that he would circulate his challenge among the most eminent persons in Montpellier.

Jasmin answered this letter as follows:--

"SIR,--I did not receive your poetical challenge until the day before yesterday,on the point of my departure for home;but Imust tell you that,though I have received it,I cannot accept it.

"Do you really propose to my muse,which aims at free air and liberty,to shut myself up in a close room,guarded by sentinels,who could only allow provisions to enter,and there to treat of three given subjects in twenty-four hours!Three subjects in twenty-four hours!You frighten me,sir,for the peril in which you place my muse.

"I must inform you,in all humility,that I often cannot compose more than two or three lines a day.My five poems,L'Aveugle,Mes Souvenirs,Franconnette,Martha the Innocent,and Les Deux Jumeaux,have cost me ten years'work,and they only contain in all but 2,400verses!I cannot write poetry by command.

I cannot be a prisoner while I compose.Therefore I decline to enter the lists with you.

"The courser who drags his chariot with difficulty,albeit he may arrive at the goal,cannot contend with the fiery locomotive of the iron railway.The art which produces verses one by one,depends upon inspiration,not upon manufacture.Therefore my muse declares itself vanquished in advance;and I authorise you to publish my refusal of your challenge."In a post,Jasmin added:"Now that you have made the acquaintance of my Muse,I will,in a few words,introduce you to the man.I love glory,but the success of others never troubles my sleep at night!""When one finds,"says Sainte-Beuve,"this theory of work pushed to such a degree by Jasmin,with whom the spark of inspiration seems always so prompt and natural,what a sad return we have of the poetical wealth dissipated by the poets of our day."Sainte-Beuve summed up his praise of the Gascon poet by insisting that he was invariably sober in his tone.