Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1867-07-26
LONGFiLLOW.

Few lives have eYclbeen so symmetrical
and satisfactory to otbrs as that of the poet
who has now translatd Dante great work.
Genius, temperamcnt'nd opportunity have
all combined. and in tie summer Of his life
he walks before the weld unharmed by that
most terrible ordeal nlyersal admiration.
The genius of Longfebw is neither epic nor
dramatic. 1t is not a)ower that astOnlshcs
or appas, and of couse it has not escaped
sharp criticism Frl the unhappy Poe
down to the priggish Strday Rcyic1c, there
have been occasional vices that dcmerred
to the chorus of sympthy and pleasure,
and insisted that the World was all astray
in its admiration of the singer; that he was
neither Shakespeare norE1omer and that 1t
was high time to have 6ee with the praise
of pretty verses And even while they
protest and complain, tie peaceful voice OF
the bard is heard likes wood-thrush amid
the chattcring of jay:
Beautiful lily, dwelling by still rivers
Or solitary NEE,
Or whore the sluggish meadow brook delivers
IT'S waters tOthe wer
Thou laughcst at the mill, the whirr and worry
Ofspiudls and Of loom,
And the great wheel that tolls amid the hurry
And rashing Of the hume.
Born to the purple, born to Joy and peasance,
Thou Gost not toll nor spin,
But makes glad aud radiant with thy presence
The meadow and the lin.
0 flower de- luce, bloom IN, and let the river
-inger to kiss thy feet!
Q flower of song, bloom % and make forever
The world more fair and sweet!
So stands the poet with the flower of song
in his hand; an ideal minuesingcr, touching
our hurrying, noisy American life with the
romance Of a trOubadour.
Yet, while the sweetness and grace of
LongtelIow' 5 muse give an air OF extreme
felicity to his poetry, and although poet Is
supposed to sing as naturally as n bird, there
is no more faithful and thorough worker in
his vocation than he. If any youth, en-
chantcd by the pensivC melody Of the line
that flows as smoothly as the blossom scent
cd breeze of May, thinks that he can warble
hkcwisc-Or lost in the soft rcyCric which,
Ike q delicate summer haze upon tranquil
hills, Is the atmosphere Of his verse, sup
poses that the poet Is an idle drcamer-lt
Is well fer him TO know that such works are
the result not only Of original perception and
sympathy but OF the most careful, scholar
ly training. That indcfinable air Of fami-
larIty with all poetic legend and romantic
tradition which implied rather than eX
pressed. springs from the fact of familiarity.
Patient, long, dilieent aad sympathetic
study has given the poet the secret Of all
poetic literature This flower Of song is not
tied to the StaIk-it grows in the richest
garden mold,
And now, as a crown to his literary life,
LongtclOw combines his exquisite scholar
ship and his poetic skill and experience in
the translation Of one of the great poems Of
the world, and of all those pQo-rI;~.the most
difficult for a foreign mind OF a latter go tU
understand. The work is so well done that
it seems to be finally done. And why not
well done since it is the result not alone of
the poet scholarship and skill, but of the
most competent assistance which the cOun-
try, or perhaps any country, can furnish .?
Every Wednesday evening for many hap
py month, in the pleasant study Of the Cra-
gle House. tho poet read the Canto he had
translated to his friends Norton and Lowell,
who with him are the three best Dantcans
among our scholars; and they fell upon the
translation with all their mother wit, with
all their critical skill with all their poetic
instinct and faculty, and intent only upon
a faithful and poetic rendering Of the exact
meaning Of Dante, they spared no felicity Of
praise which did not seem 10 them wholly
accurate, aud no melody nor picturesque
eplthct which was not perfectly justified by
the poem. The translator heard, weighed,
rejected or approved, accepting correction
or reasonably clinging to his own conviction.
Never was poem 80 studied and so trans
fused into another tongue. 1t is mOnu-
mcnt of the most beautiful literary friend
ship as well as of scholarship.