" Such is his
enthusiasm, indeed, that he finds in this simple and faithful expression
of sentiment the highest form of poesy; "the true, the supreme, the
divine; that which is above rules and beyond reasoning."[72]
Scarcely can we call these words extravagant, when, in our own century,
another Frenchman, eminent as a scientific observer, and speaking from
the results of personal study on the spot, has said of the songs of a
tribe of this same Tupi stock, the Guarayos, that they cannot be
surpassed for grace of language and delicacy of expression.[73]
Many interesting Klamath, Omaha and Zuni verses have been collected by
the efforts of Gatschet, Dorsey, Cushing and other zealous laborers
connected with the Bureau of Ethnology at Washington, and these will
shortly be accessible to all through the accurate publications of the
government press.
The melodious Nahuatl tongue lent itself readily to poetic composition,
and was cultivated enthusiastically in this direction long before the
Conquest. Apparently the poetic dialect never freed itself from the use
of unmeaning particles thrown in to complete the meter; as, indeed, may
also be said of the English popular song dialect, which retains to this
day very many such.[74]
With this exception the Tezcucan poets, for it was in that province that
the muses were most assiduously worshiped, made use of a pure,
brilliant, figurative style, and had developed a large variety of
metrical forms.
Pages:
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64