Notes sur deux énigmes concernant Le Printemps d’Yver

Abstract

Two questions left unresolved in (he existing editions of Le Printemps d’Yver are investigated: firstly the probable date of the episode described by Yvcr, and secondly the prevailing doubts as to whether or not the work is complete in its present form. Correlating the dates of the ceasefires during the Religious Wars, the publication of Yver's work and the estimated time of his death suggests that the frame story might have been set at Whitsuntide, 1571. The second question of the novel's completeness is, of course, crucial for a full appreciation of the author and his Le Printemps. The structure of a frame-novel that almost certainly served as a model for Yver’s own composition is considered in conjunction with the French work. In addition, thematic elements relating to Venus, the goddess of love, are examined both in the frame story and the enclosed tales as further evidence of structural unity in the book. It is then argued that Le Printemps, far from being incomplete, is a neatly constructed, tightly-woven and finished artistic product.