New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-09-03
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
MODERN GERMAN LYRICS.

WIKHMAN PIP. 37l. Philadelphia: CiaHtOb,
Remsen, A. HafieihngeT.
Tn the first place, We commend the design of this
volume. Notwithstanding the German AnthologieS
of Bowring Mangan, Baskerville, and others, ana
the various TRANSACTIONS OF INLAND and llene WHICH
have appeared very little Of the great store OF yer
man Lyric Poetry is accessible, as yet 10 Ehghsh
seaders For tho last forty years, the sentiment
sensation and passion of the Tace-oiten lndeee us
speculation also-have turned almost exclusively !"
Mis- field and there is no feature OF the OeThan n~
lure which has net been richly expressed i'll pilei
lyrics Robert ven Schlasintweit, the other gay,
made collection nf poems illustrative of lands and
skmates and they form volume OF TWO vi 'hi'0
hundred Imprinted pages. OF poems relating 10
have grief patriotism, JOY in life, discomfort WIN
life a toleTable library might easily be eathelea
together In q country where almost every educated
nan or woman is in the habit of writing verses iol
birth-days and other domestic festivals, and wheIe
an impromptu toast in rhyme, at dnneT-party'l 10
as common as the absence OF 1t with u.s. great deal
Of the current poeteal literature is ephemeral; ana
even of the present known and popular Names
we presume that very few Will be heard Oh MY
years hence.
collection of lyrics, therefore, winch snail larry
represent the best qualities of Modern Poetry III
germany eannet be made withsut the advantages
sf extensive knowledge, ripe taste and discrmlna-
tion; and having been made, the greater difficulty
is still TO bo evercOme-that Of reproducing tho
special excellences of the poems III another language
when Mr.. Wreman informs u.s. III his preface lh"V
he selected of the poems because they were 50
eongenia to my day dreams and fancles and OtheiS'
"fsr their applicability to some incident IN the MS
tory Of my hfe,' we may find such a principle OF
selection as MATERIAL Darwins, but the reader VINO
wishes to obtain q clear idea OF German LYRIC
Poetry will be disappointed. lie will find evidence
of the tTaDslators individual preferences but not OF
Abe relative importance of the poets, In twenty-lour
speeimens of Lenau mot his best, and only one OF
EIchend0r three Of commonplace yerSlher Ike AL
bert Trager and not one of Schwab or HAUL Ruckert
is represented by four poems Freigrath, ChamIsso,
and Kerner by two each, and Count Platen and
ghland by one; while such comparatively insignih-
cant names as Dahn, Mund, Siebel, VOgl and Wege-
ner are treated with equal respect.
Lenau is the chief figure Of school OF minor poets,
which was for a time very popular in Germany lie
is the poet of the morbid and the miserabe-groan-
Ing more profoundly under the burden of world
pain" than Hene but without particle of the reek
less irony and realism of the latter which are
his most pquant attraction. To read much of Lenau,
in these days. is simply impossible; and it was
great mistake in Mr. WiTeman to make his despair
ing sentmentaliSm the keynote to this volume,
However. since he has done it, let us see how he
has fulfilled his own hope of rendering the authors
"in clear and intellisIble form, still retaining
pure versfcation' The very first line he gives us
Is from Lenau: "drmeS Uild i'm UadesgRnde" which
he translates Harmless game in forest ground"
Now, Wild here means a deer, and the true transFa-
ken, "hapless deer" Mr.. W. changes into " harmless
game" TO say nothing of the incorrect English,
"in forest ground" the original is in the depths of
the forest" The substitution of masculine for
feminine rhymes is so customary in translating from
German into English that we cannot find special
fault with Mr., Wireman: but 1t is never excusable
whore the translator processes to give the pure
sGcatonp of the original. We can emily judge of the
atters capacity to appreciate the rhythmical quality
II the German poem by examining how much there
81 he has retained in his English lines; and, after
having made careful test, are compelled to ex-
press doubt whether he knows what pure versi-
6catiOn" is. The following is good average speci-
of his performance:
"The glaciers stern, 'mong blast and chill,
Unuotieed IN the constant still,
1t like some silent joy doth bloom"
I'm the constant still " is given as the translation
" i'm etgeR Sohreige-" in eternal silencc~ The
volume abOunds with instances where the simplest,
most obvious meaning of the words, which usually
the most pOetic form of rendering them, is twisted
hto something very awkward and commonplace, to
meet the translatOrs difhcultyin achieving rhyme
His nearest approach to success is in Saets Might
bne "inRiglicP INTO its exact rhythmica reverse
Sincerely"
worse defect than this is Mr. Wiremans frequent
failure to give the true Interpretation of words or
phrases, even where the exactOns of rhythm do not
compel him to change them He has not a thorough
sympathetic comprehension Of the German language
In Siebel's "Ilemath" he translates tcekntathselio
kadly-blissfulJ into melancholy :" then wehmRhig
,ciRkepd sadly beckonincJ INTO "solemnIy wink
ing % and finally weEmaihig sadly INTO "wofu
lyp 1t would be difficult to give Ruckerts lines;
" Wean de igilist i'm uensckeithsyxen
ALE Sattel rtthreR GH,"
In q worse form than this:
" Would You bear hearts refrain,
When It's strings are all IN pl@y"
but an actual ignorance of the language is exhibited
in the translation of this line from Chamsso:
4" U'R NIGHTS geiacht, uaa I,iehtS ge,oeiiL"
meaning literally I've laughed and wept about
nothing at all" but which Mr. Wireman renders:
ave cared for naught, we shed NO tearl
in another place he translates: Dir seys gecdhrt ~
HBe it granted unto theey into "Thy will be
donep
Mr.. Wireman, in his preface, alludes to his youth
and inexperience, and thus do him no unfriendIy
service in pointing out how much he has still 70
learn before he can render ordinary Justice TO his
models. His first requisite is a more than mechan
ical knowledge of the German language his second.
al acquaintance with English metres. If he had not
attached the syllable characters representinO
scanson to two or three of the poems should have
attributed TO ignorance what must now ascrbe TO
incompetency The translation of poetry reouires
more knowledge. and more earnest conscientious
labor than are usually bestowed upon the school-ex-
ercises of boy. 1t is mans work-and the man
who shall do il successfully must be a scholar and
poet.
GERMAN HYMNOIOGY