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English word is the O.E. misteltan, Icelandic mistelteinn, in which tan or teinn means a twig, and mistel may be associated either with mist in the sense of See also:

fog, gloom, because of the prominence of mistletoe in the dark See also:

SEASON (0. Fr. seson, seison, mod. saison, Lat. satio, sowing time, the spring, from serere, to sow; in Late Lat. the word is found with its present meaning, the spring being considered as particularly the season of the year)

season of the See also:

YEAR

year, or with the same See also:

root in the sense of dung (from the See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character of the berries or the supposed mode of See also:

PROPAGATION

propagation).and his See also:

MOTHER

mother a See also:

SIMPLE

simple and religious woman of the See also:

PEOPLE

people, who first taught him to love all the songs and legends of the See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country. In these early days on the See also:

FARM

farm he received those first impressions which were destined to constitute one of the See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief beauties of Mireio. In his ninth year Mistral was sent to a small school at See also:

AVIGNON

Avignon, where he was very wretched at first, regretting the See also:

FREE

free outdoor life of the country. Gradually, however, his studies attracted him, above all the See also:

POETRY

poetry of See also:

HOMER, WINSLOW (1836-191o)

Homer and See also:

Virgil; and he translated the latter's first See also:

ECLOGUE

eclogue, showing his efforts to a See also:

young schoolfellow, A. Mathieu, who was destined to See also:

PLAY

play a See also:

PART

part in the See also:

FOUNDATION (Lat. fundatio, from fundare, to found)

foundation of the Felibrige. When Roumanille (see PROVENCAL LITERATURE) became an See also:

usher at Mistral's school, the two, fired by the same love of poetry and of their native See also:

PROVENCE (Provincia, Proenza)

Provence, soon became See also:

close See also:

friends. " Voila 1'See also:

AUBE

aube que mon See also:

ARNE, THOMAS AUGUSTINE (1710-1778)

Arne attendait pour s'eveiller a la lumiere," he exclaimed, on See also:

READING

reading Roumanille's first See also:

DIALECT (from Gr. Sia stcror, conversation, manner of speaking, &aXeyec6at, to converse)

dialect poems; and he goes on to say: " Embrases tous See also:

les deux du desir de relever le parler de nos mores, nous etudiames ensemble les vieux livres Provencaux, et nous nous proposames de restaurer la langue selon ses traditions et caracteres nationaux." On leaving school (1847) he returned to Maillane, where he sketched a See also:

PASTORAL (from Lat. pastor, a shepherd)

pastoral poem in four cantos (Li Meissoun). With all his love for the country, he soon realized that life on a farm did not satisfy his ambition. So he went to study See also:

law at See also:

Aix, where he contributed his first published poems to Roumanille's Li Prouvencalo (1852).

He had become licencie en See also:

DROIT (Fr. for " right," from Lat. directus, straight)

droit the year before, but now decided on a See also:

LITERARY

literary career. The Felibrige was founded in 1854, and five years later appeared Mirlio, the masterpiece not only of Mistral, but so far of the entire school. The See also:

TALE (O.Eng. talu, number, account, story; the word is common to many Teutonic languages; cf. Ger. Zahl, number, Erzahlung, narrative, Du. taal, speech, language)

tale itself was nothing—the old See also:

story of a See also:

rich girl and her poor See also:

LOVER, SAMUEL (1797-1868)

lover, kept apart by the girl's parents. Mireille, in despair, wanders along a wide See also:

TRACT (from Lat. tractare, to treat of a matter, through Provencal tractat and Ital. trattato)

tract of country to the See also:

church of the Trois-Maries, in the See also:

hope that these may aid her. But the effort was too great: she sinks exhausted, and See also:

DIES, CHRISTOPH ALBERT (1755-1822)

dies in the presence of her stricken parents and her frenzied lover. Into this simple See also:

WEB (a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Du. webbe, Dan. vaev, Ger. Gewebe, all from the Teutonic wabh—to weave)

web Mistral has See also:

WOVEN

woven descriptions of Provencal life, scenery, character, customs and legends that raise the poem to the dignity of a rustic epic, unique in literature. Nothing is forced: every detail is filled into the framework of the whole with a cunning which the poet was never again to attain. There is no deep See also:

psychology in the characters, but then the people depicted are simple rustic folk, who See also:

WEAR

wear their See also:

HEARTS

hearts on their See also:

SLEEVE (O. Eng. slieve, slyf, a word allied to " slip," cf. Dutch sloof, apron)

sleeve. Calendau (1867), the story of a princess held in bondage by a ruthless brigand, and eventually rescued by a youthful See also:

hero, is a See also:

COMPARATIVE

comparative failure. The description of scenery is again masterly; but the old See also:

lore, which had charmed all readers in Mireio, here becomes forced, not inevitable. The characters are See also:

mere symbols—indeed the whole poem is obviously an See also:

ALLEGORY (iXXos, other, and ayopeuav, to speak)

allegory, the princess See also:

STANDING

standing for Provence, the brigand for See also:

France, and the young lover for the Felibrige. Mistral lavished enormous labour on this See also:

WORK

work, which probably accounts for its lack of spontaneity, as also for the love he bears it.

In 1876 (the same year in which he married Mlle See also:

MARIE

Marie See also:

RIVIERE, BRITON (1840- )

Riviere, of See also:

DIJON

Dijon) was published the See also:

VOLUME

volume Lis Isclo d'Or—a collection of the shorter poems Mistral had composed from the year 1848 onwards. Here he is again at his very best. Old legends, sirventes (mostly, as in See also:

MEDIEVAL

medieval times, poems with a tendency), and lyrics—all are admirable. Even the pieces d'occasion may be reckoned with the best of their See also:

KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind. Two pieces, the See also:

COUPE (French for " cut off ")

Coupe and the Princesse, aroused violent controversy on their first See also:

APPEARANCE (from Lat. apparere, to appear)

appearance. They reproduce, in effect, the theme of Calendau, and Mistral was accused of trying to sow discord between the See also:

north and See also:

south of France. Needless to say he was altogether See also:

innocent of such a See also:

DESIGN (Fr. desiin, drawing; Lat. designare, to mark out)

design. Nerto (1884) is a charming tale of Avignon in, the olden days, in' which a girl's purity triumphs over her lover's See also:

BASE

base designs and leads him to nobler thoughts. There is little individuality in the characters, which should rather be regarded as types; and we feel no terror or pity at the tragic close. But we are carried along by Mistral's See also:

art and by the brilliancy of his espisodgs; and he achieved the See also:

OBJECT

object he had in view: a See also:

PRETTY

pretty tale imbued with the proper See also:

TOUCH (derived through Fr. toucher from a common Teutonic and Indo-Germanic root, cf. " tug," " tuck," O. H. Ger. zucchen, to twitch or draw)

touch of See also:

LOCAL

local See also:

COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour and with the true spirit of See also:

ROMANCE

romance. The play La Reino Jano (189o) is a See also:

COMPLETE

complete failure, if judged from the dramatic standpoint: it is rather a brilliant See also:

PANORAMA (Gr. -rap, all, and opa,ua, view)

panorama, a See also:

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of See also:

STAGE (Fr. 6/age; from Lat. stare, to stand)

stage pictures, and the characters neither live nor arouse our sympathy. In the great epic on the Rhone (See also:

Lou Pouemo au Rouse, 1897) the poet depicts the former See also:

BARGE (Med. Lat. barca, possibly connected with Lat. baris, Gr. flaps, a boat used on the Nile)

barge-life of that See also:

RIVER

river, and inter-twines his narrative with the legends clustering See also:

ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

round its See also:

banks, and with a graceful love See also:

EPISODE

episode.

For the first See also:

time he employs See also:

BLANK (from the Fr. blanc, white)

blank See also:

VERSE (from Lat. versus, literally a line or furrow drawn by turning the plough, from vertere, and afterwards signifying an arrangement of syllables into feet)

verse, and uses it with great mastery, but again the See also:

ancient lore is overdone. A splendid piece of work is Lou Tresor dOu Felibrige (1886). In these two volumes Mistral has deposited with loving care every word and phrase, every See also:

PROVERB (Lat. proverbium, from pro, forth, publicly, verbum, word; the Greek equivalent is irapolµia, from 7rapa, alongside, and oiµos, way, road, i.e. a wayside saying; Ger. Sprichwort)

proverb, every scrap of See also:

LEGEND (through the French from the med. Lat. legenda, things to be read, from legere, to read)

legend, that he had gathered during his many years' journeyings in the south of France. In 1904 he was awarded one of the See also:

NOBEL, ALFRED BERNHARD (1833-1896)

Nobel prizes for literature. An excellent literary appreciation of the poet is that by Gaston See also:

Paris, " Frederic Mistral " (originally in the Revue de Paris (Oct. and Nov. 1894) ; then in Penseurs et Poetes (Paris, 1896). More elaborate accounts are Welter, Frederic Mistral (See also:

Marburg, 1899) ; and Downer, Frederic Mistral (New See also:

York, 1901), with a full bibliography. (H.

End of Article: MISTRAL, FREDERIC (183o– )

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