This ruthless destruction of the forest brings down upon Calendau the anger of his lady; he has dishonored the noble mountain.  “Sacrilegious generation, ye have the harvest of the plains, the chestnut and the olives of the hillsides, but the beetling brows of the mountains belong to God!” and the lady continues an eloquent defence of the trees, “the beloved sons, the inseparable nurslings, the joy, the colossal glory of the universal nurse!” and pictures the vengeance Nature wreaks when she is wronged.  Calendau is humbled and departs.

His next exploit is the settling of the feud between two orders of Masons.  He displays marvellous bravery in facing the fighting crowds, and they choose him to be umpire.  He delivers a noble speech in favor of peace, full of allusions to the architectural glories of Provence, that grew up when “faith and union lent their torch.”  He tells the story of the building of the bridge of Avignon.  “Noah himself with his ark could have passed beneath each of its arches.”  He touches their emotions with his appeal for peace, and they depart reconciled.

And now Esterello begins to love him.  She bids him strive for the noblest things, to love country and humanity, to become a knight, an apostle; and after Calendau has performed the feat of capturing the famous brigand Marco-Mau, after he has been crowned in the feasts at Aix, and resisted victorious the wiles of the women that surround the Count Severan, and saved his lady in the fearful combat on the fire-surrounded rock, he wins her.

III.  NERTO

In spite of its utter unreality Nerto is a charming tale, written in a sprightly vein, with here and there a serious touch, reminding the reader frequently of Ariosto.  The Devil, the Saints, and the Angels figure in it prominently; but the Devil is not a very terrible personage in Provence, and the Angels are entirely lacking in Miltonic grandeur.  The scene of the story is laid in the time of Benedict XIII, who was elected Pope at Avignon in 1394.  The story offers a lively picture of the papal court, reminding the reader forcibly of the description found in Daudet’s famous tale of the Pope’s mule.  It is filled throughout with legends relating to the Devil, and with superstitious beliefs of the Middle Age.  It is not always easy to determine when the poet is serious in his statement of religious belief, occasionally he appears to be so, and then a line or so shows us that he has a legend in mind.  In the prologue of the poem he says:—­

    “Creire, coundus a la vitori. 
    Douta, vaqui l’ endourmitori
    E la pouisoun dins lou barrieu
    E la lachuslo dins lou rieu.”

     To believe leads to victory.  Doubt is the narcotic, and the poison
     in the barrel, and the euphorbia in the stream.

    “E, quand lou pople a perdu fe,
    L’infer abrivo si boufet.”