Published in 1859 to great fanfare from French literary society, Mir io was the first of four long narrative poems written by the French author Fr d ric Mistral. Composed in Occitan, a regional language spoken in southern France, Mir io arose out of the milieu of the F librige, a cultural movement centered around Mistral and his compatriots who championed the use of the Occitan language. Rich with references to local Proven al culture and geography,...