Jasmin: Barber, Poet, Philanthropist

years, of composing some poems of a higher order than his Souvenirs. He desired to embody in his work some romantic tales in vers

rength of his dramatic powers, his fidelity in the description of romantic and picturesque incidents, his shrewdness in reading character

y Georgiana Fullerton, daughter of the British ambassador at Paris,{1} and afterwards by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the American poet. Longfellow follows the rh

and tongue of

s little tra

t it with an

ader, for the

n with their mouths full of birds (la bouco pleno d'auuvelous). He has written his own biography in a poetic form, and the simple narrative of his poverty, his struggles, and his triumphs, is very touching. He still lives at Agen, on the Ga

though the village near it still exists. In a cottage, at the foot of the rock, lived the girl Marguerite, a soldier's daughter, with her brother Paul. The girl had been betrothed to her lover Baptiste; but during his absence she was attacked by virulent small-pox and

the village towards the church of Saint-Amans, singing the bridal song. The fair and fertile valley was bedecked with the blossoms of the apple, the plum, and the almond, which whitened the country round. Nothin

th buds and b

ride appro

ld bloom and

ide is pass

takes part in the frolic. With roguish eyes she escapes and cries: "Those who catch me will be married this year!" And then they descend the hill towards the church of Sai

nd the wedding at Saint-Amans with her little brother. While dressing, she slips a knife into her bosom,

a moment a voice cried: "It is he! It is he;" and Marguerite rushed through the bridal party towards him with a knife in her hand to stab herself; but

l song, the De Profundis was chante

l mourn, and, v

rpse shall l

and weep, a

pse shall pas

of the same month it was publicly recited by Jasmin a

ural. The poem might form the subject of a drama or a musical cantata. The lamentations of

, day and j

arkness, alwa

ns-natural, touching and disinterested-his Blind Girl of Castel-Cuille, in which he makes us assist in a fete, amidst the joys of the villagers; and at the

surprised, on reading this simple picture, to be involuntarily carried back to the most expressive poems of the ancient Greeks-to Theocritus for example-for the Marguerite of Jasmin may be compared with the Simetha of the Greek poet. This is true poetry, rich from the same sources, and gilded with

are worth ten of others. It is thus that his genius has refined during the years preceding the time in which he produced his greatest works. It is thus that he has become the poet of the people, writing in the popular patois, and for public solemnities, which remind one of

hed he became, by universal consent, the Poet Laureate of the South. Yet some of the local journals of Bordeaux made light of his appearance in that city for the purpose of reciting his as yet unknown po

rance in the city was a triumph. Crowds resorted to the large hall, in which he was to recite his new poem of the Blind Girl of Castel-Cuille

isappeared. He read the poem with marvellous eloquence; while his artistic figure, his mobile countenance, his dark-brown eyebrows, which he raised or lowered at

th buds and b

aunt. His eyes became suffused with tears, and those who listened to the patois, even

girl; and when he had ended, a storm of applause burst from the audience. There was a clapping

It was indeed something extraordinary. Some said that he declaimed like Talma or Rachel, nor was there any note of dissonance in his reception. The enthusiasm was general and unanimous amo

ees by the prefect, by the archbishop, by the various social circles, as well as by the workmen's associations. They vied with each other

with his wife and children. He took leave of his friends and admirers with emotion, and, notwithstanding the

ow's head, he remained simple and natural to the last. As we say in this country, he could "carry corn" We have said that "Gascon" is often used in connection with boas

its. In 1836, the year after his triumphal reception at Bordeaux, some of his friends

e advised Jasmin to go to the great metropolis, where genius alone was recognised. Jasmin answered him in a charming letter, setti

ney is only money!' I ask you, in no craven spirit, is money the only thing for a man to seek who feels in his heart the least spark of poetry? In my town, where everyone works, leave me as I am. Every summer, happier than a king, I lay up my small provision for the winter, and then I sing like a goldfinch under the shade of a poplar or an ash-tree, only too happy to grow grey in the land which gave me birth. One hear

home on the Gravier, his shop, his wife and his children, continued to be his little paradise. His muse soared over him like a guardian angel, giving him songs for his happine

parkling stars o

sweet, so ro

right, and br

o like a ri

e brilliant t

ised him in everything. He gave himself up to her wise advice, and never had occasion to regret it. It

e, he added the words, "Coiffeur des Dames." This proved to be a happy addition to his business. Most of the ladies of Agen strove for the honour of having their hair dressed by

stood that his delicate nature could not be entirely absorbed by the labours of an ordinary workman. She was no longer jealous of his solitary co

ighly educated woman, she felt the elevating effects of poetry even on herself. She influenced her husband's mind th

bated breath. She could even venture to correct him; for she knew, better than he did, the ordinary Gascon dialect. She often found for him the true word for the picture which he desired to present to his reader. Though Jasmi

ht; and I will again think over the subject, and make it fit more completely into the Gascon

no objection to the most thorough criticism, by his wife as well as by his friends. When the poem was long and elaborate, the auditors sometimes began t

Perhaps some might envy the position of a man who had risen from the ranks and secured the esteem of men of fortune and even of the leaders of literary opinion. Jasmin, like every

which were made for his songs and verses. Indeed, no fete was considered complete without the recitations of J

erely that he might recite his verses gratuitously. He did not belong to their social circle, and his wife was not included. What sympathy could she have with these distinguished

at the feasts of the lazy; that his time was too precious for that; that a poet ought, above al

ll apply. Jasmin had no gardener nor any old servant or housekeeper. Jasmin and Marie were quite different. They lived the same lives, and were all in all to each other. They were both o

life? It was the result, no doubt, partly of the gifts with which the Creator had endowed him, and partly also of patience and perseverin

ty of emphasis. And feeling is the vitalising principle of poetry. Jasmin occasionally varied his readings by singing or chaunting the songs which

Jasmin used his pathetic eloquence for very n

for Cha

eorgiana Fullerton,' says: "It was put in at once, and its two hundred and seventy lines brought to the author twelve guineas on the day on which it

n the original Gas

eros diou

nobio b

ouri, diou

nobio b

In G

eros diou

morto b

emi, diou

morto b

in G

, toutjour! et pe

ney, tout

d'el! Oh! que mo

' iv. 240-1 (edit. 1852); and 'Portrai