New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1870-02-10
rather in the temper of thought Of tho Two poets,

| Cimpntlty, nObliHN anu " HdiHitnH WIN" '''
prose without icing itsof prosac. are the Character
istcs of Mr. Bryants style. certain intense nor
vous force and power Of rapid movement are a'so
| necessary to the man who would translate iion'e''
! Mr. BRYANT is popularly considered to he ch'eny
grave commemorative poet because his MUSE WIN
| oorc severity holds his passion ana iiha2in"''o"
subject The evidence of the latter qualities Is '"'o"'
rather than expressed. and may easily ese"i" VIZ
| careless reader Very few understand thaI 'no g"
pacity of true repose presupposes Fisol' ~ 80
! MASSAGE from Mr.. Bryants Antiquity OF Freedom
is all we need to illustrate his force ana
| Power at thee has launched
u,s ,oI,s and with his lightnings smitten thee:
1hoy could not auench the lie thou hast from heaven
| Mercilcss Power has dug thy dungeon deep
And his sw art armorers, by thousand fires
| Have forged thy chan yet. while lie deems thee
| bound.
! The bolts are shiyered and the prs0n-wals
! Fall outward; terribly thou springest forth,
As springs the fame above burning pile,
| And shoutest TO the nations, who return
Thy shOutings while the pale oppressor HES
In his translation of the HAD therefore, we are not
surprised at Mr. Bryants power of adapting his verse
to the changing moods of the original. His skill Is
all the more remarkable from the apparent absence
of effort. In this respect he greatly surpasses
| Cowper the only reputable poet who has inade
translation in the same measure. we do not mean
| q
for the reason that Cowper's Had, although it
enjoyed a brief popularity, is now practically
obsolete: its langud movement and lack OF compact
picturesque diction sufficiently account for tsfailure
Some COMPARISON with the Had OF Lord Derby
however is suggested by the recent publication OF
the latter and the very respectable success winch IL
has achieved.
Let rs begin with the opening lines, which Lord
Derby renders thus:
"OfPeleus' son, Achilles sing Muse,
The vengeance deep and deadly; whence to Greece
Unnumbered ills arose; which many soul
Ofmighty warriors to the viewless shades
Unmely sent; they on the battle plain
Unburied lay, prey to ravening dogs.
And carrlon birds but so had Joye decreed,
From that sad day when first in wordy war,
The mighty Agamemnon King of men,
Confronted stood by Peleus' godike son."
And Mr.. Bryant thus:
40 Goddess sing the wrath Of Peleus' son,
Achilles; sing the deadly wrath that brought
Woes numberless upon the Greeks, and swept
To Hades many valiant son and gave
Their limbs q prey to dogs and birds Of air.
For so had Jove apponted,-from the time
When the two chiefs Atrides, king OF men,
And great Achilles, parted first as foes"
We do not need to point ont the greater simplicity.
yigor and compactness of the latter version. The
openinR invocation is more direct and gives the
original thea, which is finer than Muse" the
"many soul of mighty warriors to the vewless
shades of Lord Derby, has not the Homeric plain
ness of Mr.. Bryants swept to Hades many valiant
soul :" the latter's closing lines are both smoother
and more forcible and the grammatical structure of
the passage rather clumsy in the former is entirely
elegant in the latter
As an instance of the superior resonance and har-
mony which may be attained by variety of trans
lation SO s ght as to be of literal Importance,
ouote the commencement of the prayer 10 Apollo,
which is thrice repeated in the First Book. First,
Lord Derby:
Hear me- God Of the silver bow whose
Chrysa surrounds. and elias lovely vale;
Whose sovereign sway DER Tenedos extends:
o Smintheus, hearW
Mr.. Bryant
Hear me, thou bearer Of the silver bow.
Who guardest Chrysa. and the holy isle
or CHA, and art lord in Tenedos.
o smintheusl'
The meeting of the Greeks, in the Second Book
illustrates the difference in movement of the two
versions. One anthOr the reader instincively feels
has felt the crowding haste of the original lines aud
strven to reproduce it, while the other has either
failed in the delicate appreciation of tho char
acter of the passage has lacked the power of trans
ferriDg it to English words. Mr. Bryants rendering
of the passage is admirable
"He spake, and left the council and the rest,
All sceptred kings, arose, prepared to obey
The shepherd of the people. All the Greeks
Meanwhile came thronging to the appointed place.
As, swarming forth from cells within the rock
Coming and coming still, the tribe Of bees
Fly In cluster DER the flowers OF Spring,
And some are darling out 10 right and left
So from the ships and tents multitude
Along the spacious beach. III mighty Thongs,
Moved toward the assembly Runor went with them,
The messenger OF Jovc. and urged them on.
And now, when they were met, the place stunned
With elamor; earth, as the great crowd sat down.
Groaned under them din Of gled cries
Arose; nine shouting heralds strove TO hush
The noisy crowd to silence. that at length
The heaven-descended monarchs might be heard"
Lord Derby's translation varies but slightly from
this in substances yet in execution there is the gulf
between the two which always opens between the
best results of Labor and Taste, and tho achieve
ments of that gift which is born aud never 10 bc ac
quired
He said and from the council led the way
UprOse the sceptred monarchs, and Obeyod
Their leaders call, and round them trongd the crowd
As swarms OF bees, that pour in ceaseless stream
From out the Greyice Of some hollow rock
Now clust'rinC, aud alQ. mid yerna! flowers,
Some here, some there. In busy numbers fly;
30 to tn Assembly fp0m their tents and ships
The countless tribes Gang throngug; in their midst
BY Jove enkudleG. Rumour urged them
Great was the din and ~ the mighty mass
Sat down, the solid earth beneath them groancd:
Nine heralds raised their voices loud, to quel
The storm OF tongues, and bsde the noisy crowd
Re still and listen TO the Heav'uborn Kings"
II would be very easy to run the parallel much fur
ther, but we have already indicated the chief point,
of difference between the two vCrsions and perhaps,
after all the simplest way Of expressing them
would be to say-AIr. Bryant is a poet, an6 Lord
Derby is not. The Catalogue Of the Grecian army in
the Second Book is a subject which tests the powers
of the translator by its bare, mechanical character
and rya b,va nowhere found Mr.. BryaDps instinct