, and depth.

[Sidenote: The Parnasse.]

Except Dupont and Nadaud, all the poets just mentioned may be said to
belong more or less to the school of Gautier--the school, that is to
say, which attached preponderant importance to form in poetry. Towards
the middle of the Second Empire a crowd of younger writers, who had
adopted this principle still more unhesitatingly, grew up, and formed
what has been known for some years, partly seriously, partly in
derision, as the _Parnassien_ school. The origin of this term was the
issue, in 1866 (as a sort of poetical manifesto preluding the great
Exhibition of the next year), of a collection of poetry from the pens of
a large number of poets, from Theophile Gautier and Emile Deschamps
downwards. This was entitled _Le Parnasse Contemporain_, after an old
French fashion. Another collection of the same kind was begun in 1869,
interrupted by the war, and continued afterwards; and a third in 1876:
while the _Parnassien_ movement was also represented in several
newspapers, the chief of which was _La Renaissance_. Another nickname of
the poets of this sect (which, however, included almost all French
writers of verse, even Victor de Laprade being counted in) was _les
impassibles_, for their presumed devotion to art for art's sake, and
their scorn of didactic, domestic, and sentimental poetry. Their numbers
were very great, and none, save a few, can be mentioned here. Perhaps
the chief of the original _Parnassiens_ were MM. Sully Prudhomme and
Francois Coppee, the former of whom experienced some reaction and
affected what is called 'thoughtful verse,' while M. Coppee, having
taken to domestic subjects, is as popular as any contemporary French
poet, and in at least one instance (_Le Luthier de Cremone_) has
achieved success at the theatre. A poet of great gifts, the latest of
the vagabond school of Villon, was Albert Glatigny, who lived as a
strolling actor, and died young. Many of his poems, but especially the
_Ballade des Enfans sans Souci_, have singular force and pathos. It
would hardly be fair to mention any other names, because a singular
evenness of talent and general characteristics manifests itself among
these poets. All sacrifice something to the perfection of form, or, to
speak more correctly and critically, most are saved only by the
perfection of their form, which is as a rule far superior to that of
English minor poets. Of late years the _Parnasse_ as a single group has
broken