Black Republic of Letters

Literary Chat

The Contemporary Youth, such is the title of a new study published by Mr. Lorenzo Vero, a young and very original writer. It is possible, in a few pages, to study this youth quite deeply, so complex in its infinite manifestations; Mr. Lorenzo Vero examines three of the most important and revealing of these manifestations. He analyzes the character of a modern young man in his religion, his philosophy, and his poetry. Indeed, discovering—on these three fundamental questions—the true contemporary spirit would be to understand it wonderfully, but is this possible? Can we confirm that the youth really has a characteristic spirit in our era? Is it not, by its very nature, in continual evolution? A whole field of hypotheses can be opened on this question, and a thousand light and heavy theories can be considered; but pretending to encase the youth of an era into a philosophical or other type of theory, seems to us to be an ambition that is not very useful and somewhat risky. The difficulty is even bigger when the author is himself part of this youth and, whatever else he is, imbued with its ideas, its passions and its errors. Such is the case with Mr. Lorenzo; the setup of his study is ingenious, it is in a finely written style that is interesting to read, with numerous ideas which are excellent in depth and form; but they are often very individual, not very susceptible to generalizations in the end, and their conclusions are flawed, which is to say that they come down to a very particular opinion, and should thus be treated with caution.

His religion, at least the one he borrows from the youth, is a synthesis of a mystic adoration of the Divinity, in a direct relationship between it and man, disconnected from all religious systems, from all exterior rites. "It will have the Universe for it temple, the golden stars for streetlights, and the true priest, it would be man himself, in the solitude of his heart and his thought in the presence of the ineffable mystery of things."

This very simple religious conception apparently does lack in grandeur, but it is not new:

The universe is the temple, and the earth is the altar...

Lamartine already wrote, and until now there have been no efforts to generalize it. For better or worse, the human being feels the imperious need to give its religion an external form whatever it may be—pure abstraction unwinds him—and youth, even though in reality it remains indifferent to all religious practice, nevertheless maintains a secret respect, an unavowed faith, however vague, in this religion that has surrounded since childhood and reveals itself from time to time by external manifestations. To abolish all worship would be to abolish religion, which is only the human expression of Faith, it would be to turn it into a vague philosophy, and we know how little—in practice—philosophy holds a place in our existence.

Consequently, either the youth will conserve some sort of faith in an external worship, or its religion will be nothing but a word, a philosophy. Thus, it seems, is the case for Mr. Lorenzo. We are also astonished to see that he insists on the same in his second chapter on the philosophy of the youth; he repeats in a new form his religious theory;  and his cloudy, somewhat pantheistic metaphysics must not yet have many followers.

As for the poetry of youth, this is perhaps the most revealing element about his internal character. In poetry, indeed, the human character condenses its faith, its love and all of its best attributes. But the author is still reckless enough to copy his philosophical and religious ideal. It is true that here he is logical. He wants it impersonal: it will be a calm and severe poetry of ideas. Without denying its serene beauty, would the latter ever be the living expression of a youth that is and will remain passionate even when under the threat of no longer being so? It is doubtful.

(More to follow)

Paul Montal

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