The sun., 1870-12-26

There are thTce great poetical works which
especially engage the attention Of scholars
and poets and are more frequently translated
into other lancuages than any other produc-
uons. We mean, OF course, the Had Of HOMER,
the Divine Comedy Of DANTE, and the Faust Of
GOETHE or the three, the most difficult to irun ter
into any foreign tongue Ia unquesttonably the
Fiust. This is due not merely TO the more subtle
and shade Wy character ofthe thought whic oervades
and to the wonderful art Of it's construction. hut
also the surprising richness and 1exibility Of the
Language In which /. was ~ritten, toe German. With
all these difficulties Mr. BAYARD TAYLOR has uDdor
taken 20 cope and as they were not Of themselves
enough, lie has added to them the stupeuduus
labor Of preserving in his translstion-just pub
lished by Fields, OsEood Co the varied
orus and metres OF the tigiua. lie has under taLcn
sive in English not merely the ideas, emotions,
and images but also tbe music, tue rhymes, aud
the measures OF Goethe. This, as we tHiuk,
IL well ni-h an impossible undertaking. To &C.
comphsh 1t perfectly would be to work the great
est literary miracl, ever witnessed: It would
require a greater genus, almost. and higher
faculty Of imagination. feeling, and lansr &c,
than we're possessed by Goethe h.mselG tle greaest
poet undoubtedly whom the world has seen since
Shakespeare.
There are things in tins version which We do
not entirely approve; bat on the whole We are
bound to declare that MIR Taylor has succeed
ed in presenting a very faithful, HARMONIOUS.
and satisfactory work. In the Grst place, Il
is true to the or.ginal II would be too
much to say that in every line and every
verse he has even tie most fecitOus and Der Get
rendering possible, but he has certainly come as
near 10 1t as G. ud be expected rom inteliIce ice
accurate learning ana vigorous Doeuc faculty.
The effort is most creditable to Lin, and to the
of 10, .ha Il,
study tits masterpieces OF genius IA its original
tncue, 1t may be comm ended ~ anoraing more
fsithul representation Of Goetho's poem thJn any
previous translation.
We sDall not undertake TO exam inc his volume in
eetail We viii, However, co97 Mr. Taylor rcu-
dcrn, Of Gretchen'- Lear,.troGon hymn 10 the
Ntrr Doio1cs0, rutlinT 1t for tue convenience Of
our German readers side Is side with the original
Aon ncls'. G0-'1r Incline, Q }iijoni HaI "a.
pu schreiz,urci"he, lfou sorrow laden.
BEN Ammo gna4is mcinef my gr-c"l, couu'enanc
Moth. upon my pnh!
$40 tsusCsd s,6mSrz5a' VIA a9gui' ''na t,s.
Bhr. i ant ~ delnes Thou lookest M Z! where
S.hnes Tod. my son Is sNin'
2um Vater bhcsst du Thon seest thc R.thsr;
H,nsm nm sem uud deinc Aad 6e : so6 ~ sorrow
Moth and His pain
wer nialc; Al post guessing.
VIC Whhct IBcY6nd exp. essinr.
Der schm,r1 mir I'm Ge The raugs tnt wrus my
wls n,,a arues nor4 ner wny ,nis aaA'ous hear, so
was iittcrt, was yer why i 'frr,molcth, why it
Wei, nur du, nur du ALIEN Kn6wcst thou, and Thou
alone
woltu lcl inner rehc. whcle'er go, what 'or.
We wen, VIE web. vie - row,
ch SG aeGi tluG ae.nc witGni ny bosom aches
len wen, zen Neh, Ich Nluuo aud uh, u-gi 'tt ng
pas Ie.1 l'rbrlcht Ia mir wecpng,
breaks
DE aclcrben yor meucn The pots before my WIN.
pc.iaar ich NIT rranen Nasi %y t.ors dld wet
Als .cn am nGpen Norgcn For thee tncst nowcrs Ct
Dh dDte nlum d hAch
senlcn he in welne KAN within my lonely chamber
- m'r ~ lhc morning sun shonc
s., In ~ y jaoher, ;s 2 utter ,orow,
ln mrintm ltt' cA6u aui. Already ON my bed,
Hn,i rouc mich Won Help rescue me from
sc mach uud Tod, death and tnn!
nu sc4u,tz,n.eoA lIhou sorrow laden.
De Anii '4 la g m'iEer lAclue lny cuug'crauce
NUtl upon nv min!
A. Ne have said, this Is not periyc 1ut rer,cc
Uon is ,owetiua limos blo. II is out OF the qucs
tion tuut my other l1ngdgc should render u g IA
tense. tragic, de- rsIing ri, vita which GJchs ll7
here iled every word and -yluh,r. tn most u',nl
prose- translation giving the Ench'n wort wich
would most exactly 1poni with each word Ol
tie G. lu an, would sill bc vacant and dcn' as con-
pared Nlh the uuc' Of Goethe. Indeed, there cannot
De translation Of those verses which can aa tlto
plac, o the original IN the hearts OF those who arc
| Ike familiar with both languages. But Mr Toy
Ions Is cluti Us, carefully considered arproNma-
| tun To this unaltanabe ideal, and We CON mend u
Accordingly ", shonll aal al,0 that this hmm -
the Virgin is perhaps the most difficult part OF tho
whole poem, and that there are many other pass ges
which VIZ could have selected for quotation ia whicn
the translator las doubtless felt that he had much
better reason 70 be satisfied with himself Blu, We
| have pro'errod 10 try Mr. Tqyior By the seycrcst
| test. We desire TO say irlY that, unlike many
even or ihc most famous translations. Mr. 'Rylo 8
volume Interesting In li.r'i and those who her in
! It Knowing nothing o! the original, will not visa 10
I.t f .I. ,I.,t lav nli