nature; women’s relationship to landscape and oneness with nature will be further explored in the
next chapter on Oswald Durand’s poetry. Also as in “Floranna,” a subtle hint at an impending
change appears. The girls at this point remain unaware that danger may be lurking:
Les sons du tambour retentissent
Et vont dans la forêt bien loin
Se perdre; les bois rugissent
Aux alentours: mais c’est en vain. (I, 21-24)This first section ends with what is seemingly an all-knowing voice commanding the girlsto dance while they still remain together:
Dansez, jeunes filles d’Afrique!
Tandis que vous chantez en choeur.
Dansez, la danse est poétique,
La danse est l’hydromel du cœur. (I, 33-36)The second section is “Chant de Minora” which focalizes on one of the Betjouannes. Itis essentially the lament of Minora who is unable to find her lover. In this part, the drum sounds
are heard but not heeded: “Qu’importe à moi le tambour?” Minora asks. She speaks to the river,
asking it if it knows the whereabouts of her departed lover. The course of the river, “qui a vu
tant de cieux” can reach faraway lands of which she herself has no knowledge. Although once
again the scene is relatively calm, the missing lover, the return of the drum, and Minora’s
momentary separation from the group, all signal the end of the joyful dance, freedom of
movement, and harmonious community.
Changes in events are complemented by changes in form. The relative uniformity of thepoem’s first two sections, in quatrains of crossed rhyme and mostly octosyllabic verse, gives way
to the gradually increasing metric variety in the third section subtitled “Le Bain.” Minora’s
monologue from the previous section ends to return briefly to the girls as a collective. After only