In The Second Place, Neither Dialect Is In Possession Of Any
Peculiar Literature Capable Of Repaying The Toil Of The Student.
There Are Various Books Extant Both In French And Spanish Basque,
But These Consist Entirely Of Popish Devotion, And Are For The Most
Part Translations.
It will, perhaps, here be asked whether the Basques do not possess
popular poetry, like most other nations, however small and
inconsiderable.
They have certainly no lack of songs, ballads, and
stanzas, but of a character by no means entitled to the appellation
of poetry. I have noted down from recitation a considerable
portion of what they call their poetry, but the only tolerable
specimen of verse which I ever discovered amongst them was the
following stanza, which, after all, is not entitled to very high
praise:-
i.e. "The waters of the sea are vast, and their bottom cannot be
seen: but over them I will pass, that I may behold my love."
The Basques are a singing rather than a poetical people.
Notwithstanding the facility with which their tongue lends itself
to the composition of verse, they have never produced among them a
poet with the slightest pretensions to reputation; but their voices
are singularly sweet, and they are known to excel in musical
composition. It is the opinion of a certain author, the Abbe
D'Ilharce, who has written about them, that they derived the name
Cantabri, by which they were known to the Romans, from Khantor-ber,
signifying sweet singers.
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