LAMARTINE AS VERSIFIER

Lamartine^ title to famé rests in the high, idéal import of his noble language and thought. In this, he has brought a fresh force into French poetry. Mr. Faguet says : " He has done in the domain of poetry almost as much as Chataubriand in a larger realm." On the other hand, in the technical art of versification, he has humbly followed in the beaten track, and has added nothing in the way of the improvement of French verse as his great contemporary Victor Hugo has done. Hence, the following article on " General Character of French Verse,1' by Prof. A. Williams of Brown University, makes no mention of the innovations cl tfye Romantic school.

1. In French the laws of prosody are based on accent, and not on quantity, as in the classic tongues.