Delphi Complete Works of George Eliot (Illustrated) (967 page)

As a work of art, the most serious defect in
The Spanish Gypsy
is its doctrinal tone. It is speculative in its purpose quite as much as poetical, and the speculation is so large an element as to intrude upon the poetry. Thought overtops imagination, the fervor and enthusiasm of the poet are more than matched by the ethical aims of the teacher. This ethical purpose of unfolding in a dramatic form the author’s theories of life has filled the book, as it has her novels, with epigrams which are original, splendid and instructive. Into a few lines she condenses some piece of wisdom, and in words full of meaning and purpose. Into the mouth of Sephardo, a character distinctive and noteworthy, she puts some of her choicest wisdom. He says, —

                          Thought
  Has joys apart, even in blackest woe,
  And seizing some fine thread of verity
  Knows momentary godhead.

Again he utters the same idea, but in more expressive words.

           Our growing thought
  Makes growing revelation.

Don Silva is made to use this highly poetic imagery.

  Speech is but broken light upon the depth
  Of the unspoken.

Zarca, that truest and most original character in the poem, says of the great work he purposes to accomplish,

                      To my inward vision
  Things are achieved when they are well begun.

Again, he says, —

New thoughts are urgent as the growth of wings.

Expressive and original as
The Spanish Gypsy
is, yet it gives the impression of lacking in some poetic quality which is necessary to the highest results. Difficult as it may be to define precisely what it is that is wanting, nearly every reader will feel that something which makes poetry has been somehow left out. Is it imagination, or is it a flexible poetic expression, which is absent? While George Eliot has imagination enough to make a charming prose style, and to adorn her prose with great beauty and an impressive manner, yet its finer quality of subtle expression is not to be found in her poetry. Those original and striking shades of meaning which the poet employs by using words in unique relations, she does not often attain to. It is the thought, the ethical meaning, in her poetry as in her prose, which is often of more importance than the manner of expression; and she is too intent on what is said to give full heed always to how it is said. She has, however, employed that form of verse which is best suited to her style, and one which does not demand those lyrical or those imaginative qualities in which she is deficient. The blank verse is well adapted to her realism, though it does not always answer well to the more dramatic and tragical and impassioned portions of the story.

As a study of an historic period,
The Spanish Gypsy
is not so great a success as
Romola
; yet it more perfectly unfolds a unitary moral purpose, and the various types of character are more originally developed. The conflict of motives, the contrasted and opposed national interests, are distinctly brought out, but the aroma of the time and place are wanting. To describe a poetic and heroic era she is never content to do. Her method is totally different from that of Scott, who reflects the spirit and life of the time he depicts with almost absolute faithfulness. No gypsy was ever such a character as Zarca, no gypsy girl ever had the conscience of Fedalma. As in the case of
Romola
, so here, an historic period is used, not so much for artistic as for philosophic purposes, because it is well designed to present her ideas about heredity and tradition.
The Spanish Gypsy
is essentially a romance, and contains much of those more poetic and ideal elements which distinguish
Daniel Deronda
from her other novels. This romantic element, if it does not develop poetry of the highest quality, does bring out in its most perfect form all the finest characteristics of her style.

While
The Spanish Gypsy
affords many points of attack for the critic, yet it cannot be dismissed by saying it is not a great poem. Its strong qualities are too many to permit of its being disposed of in haste. With all its defects it is a noble piece of work, and genuinely adds to the author’s expression of genius. It is one of those poems which win, not popularity, but the heartiest admiration of a choice and elect few who find life and highest inspiration in it, because giving strength to their thoughts and purpose to their moral convictions. As a study of some of the deeper problems of the ethical and social life of man, it is unsurpassed, and the teaching imparted by it is singularly well and impressively conveyed by the whole make of the poem. It is also remarkable for its large and impressive style, its rich command of words, and the lofty beauty of its diction. One of its most striking qualities, as Mr. Henry James, Jr., suggests, “is its extraordinary rhetorical energy and eloquence,” and “its splendid generosity of diction.” The same writer says of the character of Don Silva, that “nowhere has her marvellous power of expression, the mingled dignity and pliancy of her style, obtained a greater triumph.” The critics have almost without exception dealt severely with the poem, but they have applied to it the canons of poetic art as interpreted by themselves. Genius creates its own laws, makes its own methods, reverses old decisions and triumphs against the whole brood of critics. The world accepts what is true and excellent, however defective in technical requirements. Imperfect meters, and poetic structures not orthodox, may disturb those who deal in criticism, but such limitations as these are not sufficient to fix the final acceptance of a poem. More than one of the greatest poems could not endure such tests. That
The Spanish Gypsy
has vitality of purpose, enduring interest in treatment, and a lofty eloquence of diction, is doubtless enough to insure it an accepted place among the few greater poems in the language. Its profoundly thoughtful interpretation of some of the greater social problems mankind has to deal with, will necessarily give a permanent interest for the lovers of speculative poetry, while its genuine poetic merits will largely add to that interest, and add to it by its tragic power, its rich ethical wisdom, and its fine portrayal of character.

No other book of George Eliot’s is so filled and inspired by the spirit of her teachings as
The Spanish Gypsy
. Its inspiration and its interest lie mainly in the direction of its moral and spiritual inculcations. Verse did not stimulate her, but was a fetter; it clogged her highest powers. The rich eloquence of her prose, with its pathos and sentiment, its broad perspective and vigorous thought, was to her a continual stimulus and incentive. Her poems are more labored than her novels, and for this very reason they show the philosophy which gives them meaning more clearly. Their greater concentration and less varied elements also largely help to make apparent the teachings they contain. Her sympathy with the evolution philosophy of the day is conspicuous in
The Spanish Gypsy
. It is simply a dramatic interpretation of the higher phases of Darwinism. The doctrinal element does not intrude itself, however; it is not on the surface, it is well subordinated to the artistic elements of the poem. Even intelligent readers may not detect it, and the majority of those who read the poem without any preconceptions may not discover its philosophic bearings. Yet to the studious reader the philosophy must be the most conspicuous element which enters into the poem, and it gives character and meaning to the work far more fully than in the case of any of her novels.

The aim of the poem is to show how hereditary race influences act as a tragic element in opposition to individual emotions and inclinations. The teaching of
Romola
is much of it reproduced, at least that portion of it which inculcates renunciation and altruism. Its distinguishing features, however, more nearly resemble those of
Daniel Deronda
. The race element is introduced, and the effect of the past is shown as it forms character and gives direction to duties. One phase of its meaning has been very clearly described by Mr. R.H. Hutton, who says the poem teaches “how the inheritance of the definite streams of impulse and tradition stored up in what we call race, often puts a veto upon any attempt of spontaneous individual emotion or volitions to ignore or defy their Control, and to emancipate itself from the tyranny of their disputable and apparently cruel rule.” “How the threads,” he says again, “of hereditary capacity and hereditary sentiment control as with invisible chords the orbits of even the most powerful characters, — how the fracture of those threads, so far as can be accomplished by mere
will
, may have even a greater effect in wrecking character than moral degeneracy would itself produce, — how the man who trusts and uses the hereditary forces which natural descent has bestowed upon him, becomes a might and a centre in the world, while the man, intrinsically the nobler, who dissipates his strength by trying to swim against the stream of his past, is neutralized and paralyzed by the vain effort, — again, how a divided past, a past not really homogeneous, may weaken this kind of power, instead of strengthening it by the command of a larger experience — all this George Eliot’s poem paints with tragical force.”

The main thought of
The Spanish Gypsy
is, that the moral and spiritual in man is the result of social conditions which, if neglected, lead to the destruction of all that is best in human nature. In the description of Mine Host, in the opening pages of the poem, this evil result of a severing of life from tradition is described. He was educated in the Jewish faith, but was made a Christian at the age of ten.

  So he had to be converted with his sire,
  To doff the awe he learned as Ephriam,
  And suit his manners to a Christian name.

The poet then delivers one of her doctrinal utterances, and one which is in this case the keynote of the whole poem.

  But infant awe, that unborn moving thing,
  Dies with what nourished it, can never rise
  From the dead womb and walk and seek new pasture.

That awe which grows up in childhood, if destroyed later, brings anarchy into human life. All the characters of the poem exemplify this teaching, and each is but a product of his past, individual or social. Don Silva, Zarca, Fedalma, the Prior, Sephardo, illustrate this idea. The latter gives utterance to the thought of the poem, when Don Silva says to him that he has need of a friend who is not tied to sect or party, but who is capable of following his “naked manhood” into what is just and right, without regard to other considerations.

  My lord, I will be frank; there’s no such thing
  As naked manhood. If the stars look down
  On any mortal of our shape, whose strength
  Is to judge all things without preference,
  He is a monster, not a faithful man.
  While my heart beats, it shall wear livery —
  My people’s livery, whose yellow badge
  Marks them for Christian scorn. I will not say
  Man is first man to me, then Jew or Gentile:
  That suits the rich
marranos
; but to me
  My father is first father and then man.
  So much for frankness’ sake. But let that pass.
  ’Tis true at least, I am no Catholic
  But Salomo Sephardo, a born Jew,
  Willing to serve Don Silva.

[Footnote: In a note George Eliot gives the following explanation of the word
marranos
: “The name given by the Spanish Jews to the multitudes of their race converted to Christianity at the end of the fourteenth century and beginning of the fifteenth. The lofty derivation from
Maran-atha
, the Lord cometh, seems hardly called for, seeing that
marrano
is Spanish for
pig
. The ‘old Christians’ learned to use the word as a term of contempt for the ‘new Christians,’ or converted Jews and their descendants; but not too monotonously, for they often interchanged it with the fine old crusted opprobrium of the name
Jew
. Still, many Marranos held the highest secular and ecclesiastical prizes in Spain, and were respected accordingly.”]

In the conversation between Don Silva and this uncle, the Prior expresses in the strongest language his conviction that Fedalma will in time reveal her gypsy blood, and that any rejection on the part of Don Silva of the life assigned him by his birth will end in sorrow and misery. When Don Silva declares his intention of following his own inclinations the Prior answers, —

  Your strength will turn to anguish, like the strength
  Of fallen angels. Can you change your blood?
  You are a Christian, with the Christian awe
  In every vein. A Spanish noble, born
  To serve your people and your people’s faith.
  Strong, are you? Turn your back upon the Cross —
  Its shadow is before you. Leave your place:
  Quit the great ranks of knighthood: you will walk
  Forever with a tortured double self,
  A self that will be hungry while you feast,
  Will blush with shame while you are glorified,
  Will feel the ache and chill of desolation
  Even in the very bosom of your love.

This eloquent expostulation against rejection of any of those ties and obligations imposed by birth and race is repeated again in the plea of Zarca to his daughter, when he urges that there is no life and joy for Fedalma apart from that race to which she belongs and those social conditions which gave her mind its characteristics.