On a general view of the vernacular Christmas poetry of France it must be admitted that the devotional note is not very strong; there is indeed a formal reverence, a courtly homage, paid to the Infant Saviour, and the miraculous in the Gospel story is taken for granted; but there is little sense of awe and mystery. In harmony with the realistic instincts of the nation, everything is dramatically, very humanly conceived; at times, indeed, the personages of the Nativity scenes quite lose their sacred character, and the treatment degenerates into grossness. At its best, however, the French _Noel_ has a gaiety and a grace, joined to a genuine, if not very deep, piety, that are extremely charming. Reading these rustic songs, we are carried in imagination to French countrysides; we think of the long walk through the snow to the Midnight Mass, the cheerful _reveillon_ spread on the |65| return, the family gathered round the hearth, feasting on wine and chestnuts and _boudins_, and singing in traditional strains the joys of _Noel_. * * * * * Across the Pyrenees, in Spain, the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries saw a great output of Christmas verse. Among the chief writers were Juan Lopez de Ubeda, Francisco de Ocana, and Jose de Valdivielso.{16} Their _villancicos_ remind one of the paintings of Murillo; they have the same facility, the same tender and graceful sentiment, without much depth. They lack the homely flavour, the quaintness that make the French and German folk-carols so delightful; they have not the rustic tang, and yet they charm by their simplicity and sweetness. Here are a few stanzas by Ocana:-- "Dentro de un pobre pesebre y cobijado con heno yace Jesus Nazareno. En el heno yace echado el hijo de Dios eterno, para librar del infierno al hombre que hubo criado, y por matar el pecado el heno tiene por bueno nuestro Jesus Nazareno. Esta entre dos animales que le calientan del frio, quien remedia nuestros males con su grande poderio: es su reino y senorio el mundo y el cielo sereno, y agora duerme en el heno. Tiene por bueno sufrir el frio y tanta fortuna, sin tener ropa ninguna con que se abrigar ni cubrir, |66| y por darnos el vivir padecio frio en el heno, nuestro Jesus Nazareno."[25]{17} More of a peasant flavour is found in some snatches of Christmas carols given by Fernan Caballero in her sketch, "La Noche de Navidad." "Ha nacido en un portal, Llenito de telaranas, Entre la mula y el buey El Redentor de las almas. * * * * * En el portal de Belen Hay estrella, sol y luna: La Virgen y San Jose Y el nino que esta en la cuna. En Belen tocan a fuego, Del portal sale la llama, Es una estrella del cielo, Que ha caido entre la paja.