Consequently Romanic literatures in general (and this is especially true of Provencal, as it does not extend beyond the medieval period) afford only an incomplete representation of the intellectual development cf each country.
Songs of love addressed to them soon became an accepted and almost conventional form of literature; and, as in social position the authors were generally far below those to whom they directed their amorous plaints, this kind of poetry was always distinguished by great reserve and an essentially respectful style.
From the beginning the sentiments, real or assumed, of the poets are expressed in such a refined and guarded style that some historians, over-estimating the virtue of the ladies of that time, have been misled to the belief that the love of the troubadour for the mistress of his thoughts was generally platonic and conventional.
As in other literatures, these popular elements form the foundation on which greater works are gradually built, and it is one function of literary criticism to show the way in which the component parts were welded into a uniform whole.
Very important for the study of Midrashic literature are the Yalgut (gleaning) Shim`oni, on the whole Bible, the Yalqut Mekhiri, on the Prophets, Psalms, Proverbs and Job, and the Midrash ha-gadhol, 2 all of which are of uncertain but late date and preserve earlier material.
Their literature, with which alone we are here concerned, is largely polemical and to a great extent deals with grammar and exegesis.
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