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A Survey of French Literature
A new, updated edition of a classic anthology by Morris
Bishop, revised by Kenneth Rivers, in six volumes:
A Survey of
Volume 1:

Volume 2:
The Middle Ages and
The Sixteenth Century
The Seventeenth Century
French Literature
Volume 3: The Eighteenth Century Volume I
Volume 4: The Nineteenth Century The Middle Ages and The Sixteenth Century
Volume 5: The Twentieth Century

Vol. I
Bishop / Rivers

Third Edition
I S B N 1-58510-106-0

Focus Publishing
R. Pullins Company Morris Bishop
PO Box 369
Focus Kenneth T. Rivers
Newburyport, MA 01950 9 781585 101061

A SURVEY OF

French Literature

VOLUME ONE:
THE MIDDLE AGES AND T HE SIXTEENTH CENTURY

MORRIS BISHOP

NEW REVISED THIRD EDITION

KENNETH T. RIVERS

Focus Publishing
R. Pullins Co.
Copyright © 2005 Alison Jolly and Kenneth T. Rivers

For Dianna Lipp Rivers

with added appreciation to
Beatrice Rivers and Alison Jolly

A Survey of French Literature
Volume 1: The Middle Ages and The Sixteenth Century
Volume 2: The Seventeenth Century
Volume 3: The Eighteenth Century
Volume 4: The Nineteenth Century
Volume 5: The Twentieth Century

NOTE ABOUT ILLUSTRATIONS

One of the most easily noticed differences between this edition and its predecessors
is the addition of extensive visual material. Many of the new illustrations included have
come from the Bibliothèque nationale de France (the French National Library), which
was of considerable help to the editor. The remaining illustrations are, except for the few
noted otherwise, in the public domain and derived primarily from rare books in private
collections. The line drawings illustrating each century are by Alison Mason Kingsbury;
they constitute the only pictures carried over from the previous editions.

Copyright © 2005 Alison Jolly and Kenneth T. Rivers

ISBN 1-58510-106-0

This book is published by Focus Publishing / R. Pullins Company, PO Box 369,
Newburyport, MA 01950. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be produced,
stored in a retrieval system, produced on stage or otherwise performed, transmitted by
any means, electronic, mechanical, by photocopying, recording, or by any other media or
means without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Table of Contents
(All works are complete unless otherwise indicated.)

Preface ............................................................................................................................... 1
Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 3

The Middle Ages .......................................................................................................... 5
1. La Chanson de Roland (Selections) .................................................................. 11
(Translation into modern French by Henri Chamard)
2. Le Roman courtois ............................................................................................. 22
Le Roman de Tristan et Iseut (Selections) .................................................... 23
Le Philtre .................................................................................................. 23
La Mort ..................................................................................................... 26
(Translated into modern French by Joseph Bédier)
Marie de France .......................................................................................... 31
Lai du Laustic .......................................................................................... 31
(Translated into modern French by B. de Roquefort)
3. Aucassin et Nicolette (Abridged) ........................................................................ 33
(Translated into modern French by Alexandre Bida)
4. Le Roman de la Rose (Selections) ..................................................................... 44
The Trickery of Women ................................................................................ 45
The Aims, Devices, and Might of Nature ..................................................... 50
(Translated into modern French by Pierre Marteau)
5. Medieval Theater ............................................................................................... 54
Le Jeu d’Adam (Excerpts) ............................................................................ 54
(Translated into modern French by Henri Chamard)
La Farce du cuvier (Abridged) ...................................................................... 64
(Translated into modern French by Gassies des Brulies)
La Farce de Maître Pathelin .......................................................................... 69
(Translated into modern French by Pierre-François Giroud)
6. Lyric Poetry ........................................................................................................ 90
D’Orléans..................................................................................................... 93
Rondeaux ................................................................................................. 94
Pisan ............................................................................................................. 95
De triste coeur chanter joyeusement ........................................................ 96
Villon ............................................................................................................ 97
Le Grand Testament (Selections) ............................................................. 99
L’Épitaphe .............................................................................................. 103
(Translated into modern French by Jules de Marthold)

The Sixteenth Century ........................................................................................... 105
7. Calvin ................................................................................................................ 109
Traité sur la foi ............................................................................................ 111
8. Rabelais ............................................................................................................. 112
L’Abbaye de Thélème from Gargantua et Pantagruel (Selections) ............. 114
(Translated into modern French by Raoul Mortier)
v

VI  A SURVEY OF FRENCH LITERATURE VOLUME 1

9. Renaissance Poets: Marot and Labé; La Pléiade: Du Bellay and Ronsard .. 118
Marot ......................................................................................................... 119
À une demoiselle malade ....................................................................... 120
Labé ............................................................................................................ 120
Sonnet VII: On voit mourir toute chose animée .................................... 121
Sonnet VIII: Je vis, je meurs: je me brûle et me noie ............................ 122
Sonnet XIII: Oh si j’etais en ce beau sein ravie ..................................... 122
Sonnet XXIII: Las! que me sert, que si parfaitement ............................ 123
Du Bellay.................................................................................................... 126
L’Olive
Si notre vie est moins qu’une journée ................................................ 126
Ces cheveux d’or sont les liens, Madame .......................................... 127
Les Antiquités de Rome
Sacrés coteaux, et vous, saintes ruines............................................... 128
Les Regrets
Je ne veux point fouiller au sein de la nature ..................................... 128
France, mère des arts, des armes et des lois ....................................... 128
Heureux qui, comme Ulysse, a fait un beau voyage .......................... 129
Flatter un créditeur pour son terme allonger ...................................... 129
Ronsard ...................................................................................................... 130
Ode à Corydon ....................................................................................... 131
Cassandre ............................................................................................... 132
Marie ...................................................................................................... 132
Hélène .................................................................................................... 132
10. Montaigne ......................................................................................................... 134
Au Lecteur .................................................................................................. 136
Des Cannibales (Slightly abridged) ............................................................ 136

Bibliography ................................................................................................................ 145
A biographical note about the editors............................................................................ 146

Preface
The editors of this compilation have been guided by certain principles: to introduce
the student to the greatest masters of French literature; to make a Survey of Literature
rather than a course in literary history; to choose famous examples rather than obscure
ones; to choose examples more for their merit, interest, and present vitality than for their
“significance” or importance for other than literary reasons; to present one long selection
in preference to a collection of tiny morceaux; and to make the entire text as user-friendly
as possible for instructor and student alike.
Each of the five volumes represents a complete era or century. This division is designed
to give the instructor maximum latitude in course utilization of the texts. Whether instruction
is intended for a course spanning a year, a semester, a trimester or a quarter, the instructor
can plan a syllabus using the number of volumes appropriate to the time allotted.
The editors have leaned toward inclusion rather than exclusion in deciding which
literary texts to present. Even so, in the choice of selections, the editors have been compelled
to make certain compromises, recognizing the impossibility of including everyone’s
favorites. And not every work that we admire has all the desirable qualities appropriate for
an anthology, such as being famous, interesting, self-contained, and of convenient length.
The editors will embark on no long defense of their own judgment, which others have every
right to dispute. We have preferred Tristan et Iseut to Chrétien de Troyes, and Le Roman
de la Rose to Le Roman de Renard, for reasons which seemed to us good. With so many
great writers demanding to be heard, we have inevitably excluded some of considerable
merit. But over the course of our five volumes we have more than enough authors’ works
for anyone’s needs.
The texts up through Rabelais are translated, or modernized, by scholars whose names
are given in the Contents. The Montaigne selection has been somewhat simplified. All the
texts are presented with modernized spelling and punctuation.
Literary periods, usually centuries or half-centuries, and all the major individual
authors have introductory material included. Biographical information about the writers
has been presented in a concise, informative and hopefully entertaining fashion designed
to help make the authors come alive for the reader. In addition to the essentials about
these lives, we have also focused on how certain biographical facts may be relevant to the
specific texts. The introductions provide such facts and generalizations as a student will
need for reference, in view of examinations as well as overall comprehension. It is evident
that today’s student is often in need of background information about the historical, artistic,
social, and geographical context of the literature. This we have tried to provide. For example,
our presentation of Renaissance literature begins with a clear six-point summary of what
the literary Renaissance was. The generalizations that we present are not meant to be taken
by the student as absolute truth, but rather are intended to give the student a compact body
of common knowledge and prevalent opinion; the student will then have something solid
to agree or disagree with upon encountering the literature. And our contribution is designed
to leave plenty of scope for the instructor’s own commentary.
Introductions and footnotes are in English. Whereas classroom discussion is best held
in French, a textbook all in French would not necessarily be ideal. It is necessary to consider
the serious time restraints that life today has imposed on most students. When doing their
reading, they desire to get through the introductory material as quickly as possible without
1

2  A SURVEY OF FRENCH LITERATURE VOLUME 1

the intrusion of language difficulties. They need not labor with an editor’s French; they
might better get on as fast as possible to the memorable words of the great authors.
In the footnotes, words and phrases which would not be in the vocabulary of a typical
student are translated, and other aids to fluent reading and ready comprehension are given.
Since footnotes should aid and not distract, the editors have struggled against the temptation
to give superfluous information.
In the preparation of this Third Edition, the advice of many instructors and scholars has
been heeded. By popular demand, there is now greater representation of women authors;
for example, in this first volume we have the addition of Christine de Pisan and Louise
Labé. We have found it possible also to add another requested author, Jean Calvin. (Later
volumes add to their tables of contents several notable writers previously absent, such
as Perrault, Choderlos de Laclos, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, Lesage, Vauvenargues, Sade,
de Maistre, Chénier, Bonaparte, Sand, Maeterlinck, and a variety of modern French and
Francophone luminaries.) The selections from a few authors throughout the edition have
been further abridged to make them more manageable for class assignments, and a handful
of authors whose reputations have fallen have been excised. Footnotes have been amplified
throughout, in order to assist students who may not have the strongest of vocabularies
or much knowledge of French culture. The Time Lines have been augmented with
additional information. The introductions have been expanded, updated, and reorganized.
Bibliographical information is now included at the end of the volume. And numerous visual
materials have been added, including, where possible, portraits of authors and pictures of
their homes or home-town areas in order to give a sense of social context and make their
work seem all the more real to the reader. Moreover, both the organization and appearance
of our text have been modernized to enhance clarity and ease of use.
The kindness of French publishers who have permitted the use of copyrighted
translations into modern French is acknowledged in footnotes at the beginning of each
such selection.

THE MIDDLE AGES - LE ROMAN COURTOIS  23

The romans courtois are marked by excellent artistic competence. Many of the writers
were splendid storytellers, unfailing in invention, deft in developing character, expressing
themselves with a happy blend of realism and poetic feeling. The popularity of their tales
in many modern reworkings shows that they overpass all local and temporary conditions to
touch the universal imagination of humanity.


LE ROMAN DE TRISTAN ET ISEUT
[Selections]

[The ever-famous tale of Tristan and Iseut stems from Celtic legend. The earliest extant
versions are those of Thomas and Béroul, who wrote in the second half of the twelfth
century. The story tells how Tristan, nephew of King Marc of Cornwall, slays the giant
Morholt. He is wounded, is miraculously wafted to Ireland, and slays a dragon, suffering
further wounds. He is nursed by the Morholt’s niece, Iseut la Blonde, against her will. He
is then commissioned to bring Iseut to Cornwall to be his uncle’s bride. On the journey,
the pair drink, by mistake, a philtre (love potion) intended for Iseut and King Marc. Tristan
and Iseut are torn between passion and duty, for they are deeply conscious of honor’s
obligations. They fight desperately against their destiny. After many pathetic adventures,
Tristan, to shake his fatal love, flees to Brittany and marries another Iseut, Iseut of the White
Hands. The tragic outcome of the story is told in the second of the following selections.
It is a tale of passion, remorse, and despair, of wretched human beings struggling
against the fatality of love. There can be no escape for them, and no happiness in life, save
a few moments of tortured bliss. They can find the union of their spirits only in death. This
is a thoroughly medieval idea.
The prose modernization here reproduced combines several of the early versions. It is
by a great authority on medieval literature, Joseph Bédier. Notice the mild archaisms (“la
nef,” “à toujours”) with which he gives an antique finish to his style.]

[Chapter 4] Le Philtre1 mes paroles. Cache-le de telle sorte que
nul œil ne le voie et que nulle lèvre ne s’en
Quand le temps approcha de remettre approche. Mais, quand viendront la nuit
Iseut aux chevaliers de Cornouailles,2 sa nuptiale et l’instant où l’on quitte les époux,
mère cueillit des herbes, des fleurs et des tu verseras ce vin herbé dans une coupe
racines, les mêla dans du vin, et brassa et tu la présenteras, pour qu’ils la vident
un breuvage3 puissant. L’ayant achevé par ensemble, au roi Marc et à la reine Iseut.
science et magie, elle le versa dans un Prends garde, ma fille, que seuls ils puissent
coutret4 et dit secrètement à Brangien:5 goûter ce breuvage. Car telle est sa vertu:
« Fille, tu dois suivre Iseut au pays ceux qui en boiront ensemble s’aimeront
du roi Marc, et tu l’aimes d’amour fidèle. de tous leurs sens et de toute leur pensée, à
Prends donc ce coutret de vin et retiens toujours, dans la vie et dans la mort. »

1. The two chapters from Le Roman de Tristan of Cornish knights, has arrived in Ireland to
et Iseut, translated into modern French by escort Iseut to her destined spouse, King Marc
Joseph Bédier, are copyrighted (1981) material of Cornwall.)
republished by permission of Éditions 10/18, 3. brassa un breuvage: brewed a drink.
Univers Poche. 4. coutret: leather bottle.
2. Cornouailles. Cornwall. (Tristan, with a group 5. Brangien: Iseut’s youthful maid of honor.

24  A SURVEY OF FRENCH LITERATURE VOLUME 1

Brangien promit à la reine qu’elle et comme ravis. Elle vit devant eux le vase
ferait selon sa volonté. presque vide et le hanap. Elle prit le vase,
La nef,6 tranchant les vagues profondes, courut à la poupe, le lança dans les vagues
emportait Iseut. Mais, plus elle s’éloignait et gémit:
de la terre d’Irlande, plus tristement la jeune « Malheureuse! maudit soit le jour où je
fille se lamentait. Assise sous la tente où elle suis née et maudit le jour où je suis montée
s’était renfermée avec Brangien, sa servante, sur cette nef! Iseut, amie, et vous, Tristan,
elle pleurait au souvenir de son pays. Où ces c’est votre mort que vous avez bue! »
étrangers l’entraînaient-ils? Vers qui? Vers De nouveau, la nef cinglait12 vers
quelle destinée? Quand Tristan s’approchait Tintagel.13 Il semblait à Tristan qu’une
d’elle et voulait l’apaiser par de douces ronce14 vivace, aux épines aiguës, aux
paroles, elle s’irritait, le repoussait, et la fleurs odorantes, poussait ses racines dans
haine gonflait son cœur. Il était venu, lui le sang de son cœur et par de forts liens
le ravisseur, lui le meurtrier du Morholt; il enlaçait au beau corps d’Iseut son corps
l’avait arrachée par ses ruses à sa mère et à et toute sa pensée, et tout son désir. Il
son pays; il n’avait pas daigné la garder pour songeait: « Andret, Denoalen, Guenelon
lui-même, et voici qu’il l’emportait, comme et Gondoïne, félons qui m’accusiez de
sa proie, sur les flots, vers la terre ennemie! convoiter15 la terre du roi Marc, ah! je suis
« Chétive!7 disait-elle, maudite soit la mer plus vil encore, et ce n’est pas sa terre que
qui me porte! Mieux aimerais-je mourir sur je convoite! Bel oncle, qui m’avez aimé
la terre où je suis née que vivre là-bas!… » orphelin avant même de reconnaître le sang
Un jour, les vents tombèrent, et les de votre sœur Blanchefleur,16 vous qui me
voiles pendaient dégonflées8 le long du mât. pleuriez tendrement, tandis que vos bras
Tristan fit atterrir dans une île, et, lassés de me portaient jusqu’à la barque sans rames
la mer, les cent chevaliers de Cornouailles et ni voile,17 bel oncle, que18 n’avez-vous, dès
les mariniers descendirent au rivage. Seule le premier jour, chassé l’enfant errant venu
Iseut était demeurée sur la nef, et une petite pour vous trahir? Ah! qu’ai-je pensé? Iseut
servante. Tristan vint vers la reine et tâchait est votre femme, et moi votre vassal. Iseut
de calmer son cœur. Comme le soleil brûlait est votre femme, et moi votre fils. Iseut est
et qu’ils avaient soif, ils demandèrent à votre femme, et ne peut pas m’aimer. »
boire. L’enfant chercha quelque breuvage, Iseut l’aimait. Elle voulait le haïr,
tant qu’elle9 découvrit le coutret confié à pourtant: ne l’avait-il pas vilement
Brangien par la mère d’Iseut. « J’ai trouvé dédaignée? Elle voulait le haïr, et ne pouvait,
du vin! » leur cria-t-elle. Non, ce n’était pas irritée en son cœur de cette tendresse plus
du vin: c’était la passion, c’était l’âpre joie douloureuse que la haine.
et l’angoisse sans fin, et la mort. L’enfant Brangien les observait avec angoisse,
remplit un hanap10 et le présenta à sa plus cruellement tourmentée encore,
maîtresse. Elle but à longs traits,11 puis le car seule elle savait quel mal elle avait
tendit à Tristan, qui le vida. causé. Deux jours elle les épia,19 les vit
A cet instant, Brangien entra et les vit repousser toute nourriture, tout breuvage
qui se regardaient en silence, comme égarés et tout réconfort, se chercher comme des

6. nef: ship. 14. ronce: bramble bush.
7. Chétive: Hapless one. 15. convoiter: covet.
8. dégonflées: deflated, limp. 16. Tristan had presented himself disguised at the
9. tant qu’: until. court of King Marc.
10. hanap: goblet. 17. barque…voile: Tristan, wounded by Morholt,
11. à longs traits: deeply. had had himself placed in a boat without oars or
12. cinglait: was sailing. sail, and had been miraculously borne to Ireland.
13. Tintagel: the legendary court of King Marc in 18. que: why.
Cornwall. 19. epia: spied upon.

THE MIDDLE AGES - LE ROMAN COURTOIS  25

aveugles qui marchent à tâtons20 l’un vers
l’autre, malheureux quand ils languissaient
séparés, plus malheureux encore quand,
réunis, ils tremblaient devant l’horreur du
premier aveu.
Au troisième jour, comme Tristan
venait vers la tente, dressée sur le pont
de la nef, où Iseut était assise, Iseut le vit
s’approcher et lui dit humblement:
« Entrez, seigneur.
—Reine, dit Tristan, pourquoi m’avoir
appelé seigneur? Ne suis-je pas votre
homme lige,21 au contraire, et votre vassal,
pour vous révérer, vous servir et vous aimer
comme ma reine et ma dame? »
Iseut répondit:
« Non, tu le sais, que tu es mon seigneur
et mon maître! Tu le sais, que ta force me
domine et que je suis ta serve!22 Ah! que n’ai-
je avivé23 naguère24 les plaies du jongleur
blessé!25 Que n’ai-je laissé périr le tueur du
monstre dans les herbes du marécage!26 Que
n’ai-je assené27 sur lui, quand il gisait dans Medieval illuminated page from Tristan et Iseut.
le bain, le coup de l’épée déjà brandie!28 Courtesy of Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Hélas! je ne savais pas alors ce que je sais
aujourd’hui! Brangien, qui les épiait, poussa un cri, et,
—Iseut, que savez-vous donc les bras tendus, la face trempée de larmes,
aujourd’hui? Qu’est-ce donc qui vous se jeta à leurs pieds:
tourmente? « Malheureux! arrêtez-vous, et retournez,
—Ah! tout ce que je sais me tourmente, si vous le pouvez encore! Mais non, la voie
et tout ce que je vois. Ce ciel me tourmente, est sans retour, déjà la force de l’amour
et cette mer, et mon corps, et ma vie! » vous entraîne et jamais plus vous n’aurez
Elle posa son bras sur l’épaule de de joie sans douleur. C’est le vin herbé qui
Tristan; des larmes éteignirent le rayon de vous possède, le breuvage d’amour que
ses yeux, ses lèvres tremblèrent. Il répéta: votre mère, Iseut, m’avait confié. Seul, le
« Amie, qu’est-ce donc qui vous roi Marc devait le boire avec vous; mais
tourmente? » l’Ennemi s’est joué de nous trios, et c’est
Elle répondit: vous qui avez vidé le hanap. Ami Tristan,
« L’amour de vous. » Iseut amie, en châtiment de la male29 garde
Alors il posa ses lèvres sur les siennes. que j’ai faite, je vous abandonne mon corps,
Mais, comme pour la première fois ma vie; car, par mon crime, dans la coupe
tous deux goûtaient une joie d’amour, maudite, vous avez bu l’amour et la mort! »

20. à tâtons: groping. Iseut. Discovering that he was the slayer of her
21. homme lige: liegeman (bound by a feudal oath of uncle, Morholt, she resisted the temptation to
fidelity). kill him in his bath.
22. serve (fem.): servant. 26. marécage: marsh.
23. que n’ai-je avivé: why did I not inflame. 27. assené: smite.
24. naguère: in the past. 28. brandie: brandished.
25. Tristan had killed a dragon in Ireland. Wounded, 29. male = mauvaise.
he was rescued from a marsh and nursed by

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