Durham E-Theses The idea of heroism in the poetry of Leconte De Lisle Suter, Anthony How to cite: Suter, Anthony (1966) The idea of heroism in the poetry of Leconte De Lisle, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/9959/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk THE IDEA OF HEROISM • IN THE POETRY OF LECONTE DE LISLE • Thesis presented for the degree of M.A. in the University of Durham by Anthony Suter, B.A. (Dunelm) of University College October, 1966 The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. Ai. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABBREVIATIONS iii. ACKNOi^LEDGEimTTS iv. PREFACE V. CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTORY NOTE ON THE NATURE OF HEROISM 1. CHAPTER II: THE POET AS HERO, AN EXAI-IINATION OF HEROIC TRAITS IN THE CHARACTER AND CAREER OF LECONTE DE LISLE Introduction 10, The Early Years, l8l8-1837 11. The Breton Period, 1837-18^3 12. The Rebel, 18^^3-18if8 I3. The Change, 1848-1852 16. Maturity, 1852«1894 I7. CHAPTER III: LECONTE DE LISLE'S IDEAS AS POET MTD HISTORIAN AND THEIR RELATION TO HIS TllffiS Fourierism 23. History / Religion 26. Science / Positivism 30. Industry 32. Art 53. Conclusion 36. CHAPTER IV: THE HEROES OF CIVILISATION THE HEROES OF INDIAN CIVILISATION Introduction 38. The Ascetic Ideal 41. The Assertion of Life 43. THE HEROES OF GREEK ANTIQUITY Introduction 50. Beauty 52. Herakles and Male Beauty 58. 11. 'aee Khiron 60. Hypatie and Martyrdom 64. Niobe 68. L'Apollonide 7I. TOWARDS BARBARISM Introduction 75. Helene, 76, Les Erinnyes 79, India towards Barbarism 87. CHAPTER V: THE HEROES OF BARBARISM Introduction 9I. Superiority to Death 92. Honour 95. The Patriot V/arrior Hero IO8. Dying Races and their Representatives 113. Religious Heroism and Martyrdom 119. The Hero and God - Resignation and Revolt 124. Conclusion 129. CHAPTER VI: THE HEROES OF THE Al^IML KINGDOM I3I. CHAPTER VII: CONCLUSION: LECONTE DE LISLE'S IDEA OF HEROISM AND ITS PLACE IN HIS PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE 146. APPENDIX: CHRIST AS HERO I58. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES I65. ALPHABETICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 175. INDEX OF PROPER NAMES I85. 111. ABBREVIATIONS In footnotes, works are usually designated by the name of the author, unless more than one ivork by a v/riter is listed, in which case the v/ork is referred to by the significant words of its title. The following is a list of other abbreviations ad• opted throughout the notes, apart from those used specifically in the Bibliography: L. de L. = Leconte de Lisle, P.A. = Poemes antiques, P.B. = Poemes barbares, P.T. = Poemes tra- giques, D.P.i::= Derniers Poemes, Pref. P.A. = Preface des Po• emes antiques (I852), Pref. P. et P. = Preface des Po^mes et Poesies (1855). iv. ACMOVJLEDGEMENTS The helpful suggestions that I received during the course of ray v/ork from Mr. Donald Haig, B.A., Dr. E.J. Kearns and Dr. D.M. raiight are acknov/ledged in appropriate parts of the Bib• liographical Notes. I wish to thank Professor D.J. Mossop for the guiding hand of his supervision throughout my period of study, the staff of the Durham University Library for meeting most of my insistent demands for books, and, last but not least, my Mother and Father, v;ithout whose assistance, finan• cial and otherwise, and encouragement, this work would not have been possible. A.S. V. PREFACE One of the chief reservations to be expressed concerning any work v;hich purports to study a particular aspect of an author's writings is that selection of this particular aspect does not mean that.the critic feels this to be the chief or ne• cessarily the most important feature of the author's work. In Leconte de Lisle, heroism is an important theme xvhich exists side by side v/ith others, such as art and history. It is, therefore, with this idea of perspective in mind, that I have approached the thesis. I have tried to show the importance of Leconte de Lisle's idea of heroism virithin his work as a whole and its intimate links with other themes. Any seeming over• emphasis on the idea of heroism in the interpretation of indi• vidual poems, however, is necessary to a grasp of heroism as a distinct theme. It is with the idea of balance and perspective in mind that several of the chapters have been made fairly general in nature. The first one - on the nature of heroism - is an at• tempt tov/ards understanding what heroism means. Within the scope of this thesis it cannot be exhaustive, but it does try to juxtapose what various writers have thought about heroism and to find what common ground there is between them, so as to establish some guide for the reader in relation to the he• roes of Leconte de Lisle. The second chapter - on the poet's life - gives a bio• graphical background because it was felt best to deal with biographical details in a separate section on their own ra• ther than let them intrude into the main discussion of the poetry. The common Romantic idea of the poet as hero is a sufficient Justification for such a chapter, but not for an ex- vi. planation of every feature of the poetical works by biographi• cal data. The need for perspective prompted Chapter III, on ideas. Leconte de Lisle's views can be understood much better in the context of the history of ideas in the nineteenth century than in isolation. Categorisation caused problems of balance. It v;as diffi• cult to arrange the poems. It was necessary to do some justice to whole poems in their own right - I have made an attempt at literary criticism of poems v;hich have not received much treat• ment before, Khiron, for example, - while at the same time indi• cating various types of heroism. The latter had to be done with• out too much repetition and also characters deserved to be trea• ted in their ovm right as individuals. Any categorisation is bound to be to a certain extent artificial, but I have tried to balance the disparate factors involved. Characters have been placed in sections v:here their dominant interest lies and brief cross-references have sometimes been made. The layout of the thesis was governed by what was thought to make for the greatest ease for the reader. Page references to the poems are given when they are first mentioned and are to the 1927 Lemerre Edition of Leconte de Lisle's poetical works. The bibliographical notes on each chapter explain which books- and articles were of most use in my composition of the parti• cular section of the thesis. Full details of these books and articles and of all other works read or looked at during my course of study, either briefly alluded to in the thesis or which may have had influence on what I have written, are con• tained in the alphabetical bibliography at the end. 1. CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTORY NOTE ON THE NATURE OF HEROISM Bowra sees the basis of heroism, and this is the aspect of heroism which I think most important and which the reader should keeplin his mind, in the self-assertive principle and he asso• ciates it v/ith the life of action and the honour of action. This he later qualifies. Heroism is for the happy few and it does not necessarily mean just physical might - moral qualities have their place too. (1) Taking these as the basic heroic qualities, they can be summed up in the idea of the superior energy of the exceptional man. Bowra, vfho is talking with es• pecial reference to the heroes of ancient times, provides a con• venient beginning to this discussion, because Leconte de Lisle based so many of his heroic poems on the Greek and Norse lit• erary material which Bowra treats and because it seems natural to look for a genuine basis for heroism in the earliest epic literature. Bowra's view is supported by de Vries v/ho sees heroism as superior strength and courage also linked with an idea of honour. (2) (HHonour is a theme of heroism dealt with by Leconte de Lisle in the Poemes barbares.) Auden, writing about the nine• teenth century, conserves the same basis v;hen he defines the hero as the "exceptional individual".(5) After this simple (doubtless over-simplified) definition, one must pass on to variations aind especially to complications \irith relation to the nineteenth-century view. For although de Vries says that the archetype of the hero still exists in the 1. Bowra, pp. 1, 53, 56. 2. de Vries, pp. l80, l86. 3. Auden, p. 83. 2. European consciousness (1), there are modifications and varia• tions through time.