Are French Poets Poetical?

Extract

The question is not an idle one. At least many persons of discernment have answered it in the negative, and it may be worth our while to try to find out what grounds there may be for a judgment which strikes a Frenchman as little short of stupendous. And first, when French poetry is criticized, we may be sure that popular poetry or folk song cannot be meant. Surely that country cannot be barren of folk poets which has given us such gems of folk song as Jean Renaud, and Derrière chez mon père, to mention only two of the best. France has always had plenty of popular poetry that appealed to the masses and fulfilled its function of intensifying their emotion. William's Frenchmen of Normandy rushed at their English foes with the song of Roland on their lips, and Beaumarchais' “tout fiuit par des chansons” is still true. Stand near a big factory in Paris between eleven and twelve when the workmen are having their midday meal: you will as often as not find them listening to a fiddler playing and singing a song on the latest event of public interest. To cite two cases that came under my observation, the death of Pasteur and the loss of La Bourgogne were thus commemorated.