In harmony with the realistic instincts of the
nation, everything is dramatically, very humanly conceived; at times,
indeed, the personages of the Nativity scenes quite lose their sacred
character, and the treatment degenerates into grossness. At its best,
however, the French _Noel_ has a gaiety and a grace, joined to a genuine,
if not very deep, piety, that are extremely charming. Reading these
rustic songs, we are carried in imagination to French countrysides; we
think of the long walk through the snow to the Midnight Mass, the
cheerful _reveillon_ spread on the |65| return, the family gathered
round the hearth, feasting on wine and chestnuts and _boudins_, and
singing in traditional strains the joys of _Noel_.
* * * * *
Across the Pyrenees, in Spain, the late sixteenth and early seventeenth
centuries saw a great output of Christmas verse. Among the chief writers
were Juan Lopez de Ubeda, Francisco de Ocana, and Jose de
Valdivielso.{16} Their _villancicos_ remind one of the paintings of
Murillo; they have the same facility, the same tender and graceful
sentiment, without much depth. They lack the homely flavour, the
quaintness that make the French and German folk-carols so delightful;
they have not the rustic tang, and yet they charm by their simplicity and
sweetness.
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