Note 987 — Chapter VII · THE EARLIEST DIFFERENTIATIONS OF POETRY

F. Michel, Le Pays Basque, Paris, 1857, pp. 214 f. The same is true of the Poles. See Talvj (here spelled Talvi) Historical View of the Languages and Literatures of the Slavic Nations, New York, 1850, Part IV., pp. 315 ff. Speaking of the Polish ballads, Mrs. Robinson says, “Their dances were formerly always accompanied by singing. But these songs are always extemporized. Among the country gentry ... the custom of extemporizing songs ... continued even down to the beginning of our own century.”