The play, _Queen Joanna_, is remarkable among the productions of Mistral
as being the only work of any length he has produced that makes
extensive use of the Alexandrine. In fact, the versification is
precisely that of any modern French play written in verse; and we may
note here the liberties as to cæsura and enjambements which are now
usual in French verse. We remark elsewhere the lack of independence in
the dialect of Avignon, that its vocabulary alone gives it life. Not
only has it no syntax of its own, but it really has been a difficulty of
the poet in translating his own Alexandrines into French prose, not to
produce verses; nor has he always avoided them. Here, for instance, is a
distich which not only becomes French when translated word for word, but
also reproduces exactly metre and rhyme:--

"En un mot tout me dis que lou cèu predestino
Un reviéure de glòri à terro latino.

"En un mot tout me dit que le ciel préstine
Un renouveau de gloire à terre latine."

The effectiveness, the charm, and the beauty of this verse, for those
who understand and feel the language, cannot be denied; and if this
poetic literature did not meet a want, it could not exist and grow as it
does. The fact that the prose literature is so slight, so scanty, is
highly significant. The poetry that goes straight to the heart, that
speaks to the inner feeling, that calls forth a response, must be
composed in the home speech. It is exceedingly unlikely that a prose
literature of any importance will ever grow up in Provence. No great
historians or dramatists, and few novelists, will ever write in this
dialect. The people of Provence will acquire their knowledge and their