The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-24 00:00:00

LITER AI ÜBE

The Odyssey of Homer; in English Hendecasyllable
Verse. By Henry Alford, Dean of Canterbury.
Part 1.
The Iliad of Homer; in English Hexameter Verse.
By J. Dart, M.A., of Exeter College, Oxford,
author of " The Exile of St. Helena. Part 1.
Longman and Co.

These volumes have been printed uniform as re-
spects size and external appearance, and doubtless
many classical literati will desire to possess them
both. There is always something attractive in the
perusal of these marvels of ancient verse in what-
ever form they are presented to notice, and perhaps
nowhere in his essays did Macaulay command more
acquiescence than when he paid his admirable tri-
bute to their merits. " These two strange old
poems, the wonder of ninety generations, still retain
all their freshness. They still command the vene-
ration of minds enriched by the literature of many
nations and ags3. They are still even in wretched
translations the delight of schoolboys. Having
survived ten thousand capricious fashions, having
seen successive codes of criticism become obsolete
they still remain to us immortal with the immor-
tality of truth, the same when perused in the study
of an English scholar as when they were first
chaunted at the banquets of the lonian princes."
In the preface to the Odyssey Dean Alford informs
us that " the following version is line for line. I
have not shrunk from incurring the risk of some
roughness in the version, if I might in any mea-
sure reproduce in our language the very form
and cadences of the glorious old bard." Mr.
Dart, in introducing us to the Iliad, observes
that he labours under the disadvantage of want of
leisure. but that, not supposing he will ever have
more time, he has determined to try the venture of
publication, especially as he has been informed that
" his attempt to reproduce the most noble of all pro-
fane authors, in a shape more nearly resembling
the original than the existing versions, is sufficiently
successful to warrant its publication, even in its
present imperfect state." Considering the care and
attention inseparable from such attempts that must
have been bestowed on these translations, and the
just appreciation that the authors exhibit for the
subject of their labours, it is to be hoped that their
efforts will meet with due encouragement in the
right quarters. If they induce those who are cog-
nisant of the grand language of the poet to study
ander retation on their
sublimity and beauty; if they interest and excite
p
the original themselves, and thus renew their ac-
quaintance
gighhtioytmajestic strains;
if they impart desirable information to those who
can
ouly
dwell
e with
l theth m r
ou
the student to compare the merits of rival transla-
tions, and the benefits of various modes and methods;
if they attain any or some of these results they may
consider their efforts have been crowned with suc-
cess. It will also be a gain that is worthy of the
struggle, as no one can ever be otherwise than
benefited by the fuller comprehension, and more
correct appreciation of these elevating and refining
studies. It was truly said in the well-known,
aphorism, " Ingenuas didicisse lideliter artes emollit
mores, nec sinit esse feros." The readers may infer
that at a future period they will meet with con-
tinuations of these works, as they are styled first
volumes.

Lives of the Wits and Humourists. By John
Timbs, F.S.A., author of " Curiosities of Lon-
don," &e. 2 vols. Richard Bentley.
Mr. Timbs has long been known in the literary
world by his ingenious completions and valuable
works of reference. Without much original talent,
he has succeeded in producing a series of
works of general utility and interest, containing a
large amount of condensed information. We can-
not altogether coincide in Swift's remark when he
says that "Abridgments, abstracts, and summaries
have the same use with burning glasses—to collect
the diffused rays of wit and learning in authors,
and make them point with warmth and quickness
upon the reader's imagination." Summaries and
abridgments are too often dry and lifeless, robbing
history and biography of all that vitality and inte-
rest which excites the attention and makes a far
deeper and more lasting impression on the memory
than the mere rote knowledge of facts. It is not
for the purpose of instruction—for thefirst study of
a subject—that abstracts and summaries are valu-
able ; they should rather be addressed to those who
—wishing to verify some assertion, to correct some
inaccurate knowledge, or to renew some forgotten
reading—seek, under the pressure of other occupa-
tions, concise and authentic statements. The
work before us is not exactly of this kind. It is in-
tended for those who are already familiar with the
names and characters of the celebrities it
chronicles, but who wish to obtain fuller and more
exact information concerning them. It is similar
in design to the volumes of Anecdote Biography,
recently published by Mr. Timbs, and is equally
readable and entertaining. The plan followed is
to give first a sketch of the humourist's career,
arranged in paragraphs under appropriate
headings, and subsequently a chapter of " Charac-
teristics, Personal Traits and Opinions," in which
are collected those flashes of wit and sparks of
humour, whose brilliancy has not been extin-
tinguished by the lapse of years and change of
manners. From the number and variety of these
anecdotes, we have no doubt that Mr. Timbs's work
will be widely read and highly prized, while the out-
line given of the wit or humourist's history will be
useful to many readers. The disparaging remarks
which have been made by some persons on Mr.
Timba's works appear to us to be decidedly unfair.
The compiler does not profess to publish an en-
tirely original book ; the very plan and object of
the undertaking would prevent his doing so. All
the anecdotes, personal details, &c., which
form the staple of his entertaining vo-
lumes are naturally told somewhere else,
but the task of collecting, verifying, and classi-
fying these various stories is no light labour,
and the effect is by no means insignificant. He
who reads one witty saying can now read a hun-
dred others beside it, and epigrams, puns, and re-
torts are traced to their right owners. The work
is founded on the best authorities, which are cited
in the margin, and to the later lines the compiler
has been able to add the results of his own expe-
rience. He tells us that his canon of economy haa
been to reject what is no longer essential, and
another rule has made him endeavour to give a local
colour to each anecdote. His list of subjects include
many names of eminence : we have lives of Swift,
Foote, Goldsmith, the two Colmans, Sheridan,
Sydney Smith, Theodore Hook, the two Smiths;
and others. It may therefore be seen that Mr.
Timbs has a rich field for his exertions, and his ef-
forts can hardly fail to gratify his readers. Many
humorous poems, too long for quotation, are given ;
among them, James Smith's clever verses on pun-
ning. We subjoin a few anecdotes out of his large
collection, as affording the best sample of the attrac-
tions of these volumes :