The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1870-02-05

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Tito follow ing IL Mr.. Bryant's version:
"Thc father on his clld
Looked with silent smile. AndrOmachc
Pr ssod TO his side meanwhile and al In tears
TOO brave lily valor yet will cau,c Thy d,Gt1.
Thou hast no tity on thv tender child.
Nor ne, unhappy one who soon must Oe
1hy. willow. Al the Grockt viii rush on theo
~ sss Iss iscc A. hs g swn 10Y T c o
For snail lave no lg?o when thou art gone
Nothing but soIrow.'"
Every one will confess at onco that Mr. Dryanrs
version is the beet, tic smoothcs'. and the noblcst.
II IL immcasurably superior TO Newman and hcri.
vale, and its diction Il better than Dcrbys.
There is one tften quoted passage Of Homer de-
script've Of the encampment OF the 1rojans BY the
banks OF the river Xanthus, which may serve fur.
Their to illustrate the method purtued by Mr.. Bry-
ant IN bis TRANSLATION, and which We quote the more
readily, II affords opportunity Of comparison with
Mr.. Tennyson, who has given q version Of tho Same
passage:
This IL the poetlnureat.'si
"And these all niqht upon the ridge OF war
A. when iohesyen he stars about q 9 moon
csV nch t%s AND piSE pa,s
@a a oscr s 10 hs 1s srhs; snS al PiS s
line and The 81 Lhssd ~, ssd1s , IN a. ., h.a,t
OF xSnthus bla,ed before the towers OF Troy,
4 ihoasand on .he plaln and clos. by each.
And essmP,ns golden grain tue he hor , stood,
THIS translation OF Tcnnyson's Is almost literally
exact, How far tho pocticai Pope departs from the
truth OF III, text o citation or hts translation or
rather paraphrsse will make clear II Ia follows
"The troops exuitne sat in order round,
And beaminr nret rmlned qll nc ErVnnd'
Scr Seayess Clear clear grc prca Ter sacred .ht
And hots cloud osrcnsi, the solemn scene.
Around her throne thu VIVID planets roll
And stars unpum bered Id The 81. wing role;
Ger ne az < trees IeIlowSr y!rdntS shcd'
sSn .Ep Si he ys. eSs e ROCKY II rise
The conscious s~sins rejoicing IN the fb,ht.
~. tle blue vault aud hlsss { { n'siul lisAt.
Ard oriei' = q mmeTns xseihg' VIA their raysi
lhe ons ,eet u Of The distant n rs
4 thorsind rfes me lucky horror. gid,
Pm any ruards zach flaming pile attend
Mhose Hbsyed arm, b, 20. eck rnsl,es 'eudi
Loud neigh the courier DER tiUiI hears of corr,
And sraent ~arnors Wat tic Rang morn"
OF course IN the original tn, re IL nothing about
spires, or dusky horrors gliding iousand piles OF
shady lustrcs shooting across the Geld or uinbered
arms, or twenty other effects above mentioned
All OF mis- IL Mr.. Pors's own imagining, and,
Though ghy pootca and beautiful, l. a. FAR pos
s'h'e from tn" letter wei as from the spirt Of
Homer. 1t ~ ilcsc bold htcites WITH the tS',
vi ieh even thcr brilliant mart docs not eonjone,
that make Pope worthless to any one who really
wants to know what Homer wrote.
What the old Greek did really say Mr. Bryant has
most faithfully reprocuced In these lines;
50 Nigh in hove they sat The wh9e ri;Lt through.
A. when IN heaven The stars loos bf,zhiS iotih
10 al tee ear shining noon while Dot a breeze
An u, n, and rladucss NJ ,hc slcpI'rds hear,
Lthy the sons OF Troy, between tn shIs
Aud e'dgigg Nanihu.; o. ih' llaln. there thoae
E., "a IT, rhi nT W. Sn .a q S S.c ,T Nrs
Chan prg their oats nid their Nfite nAr'ey-stCod
Aud Nalted Tor the golden MOI n 10 Tisc,'
I,vlll he seen from comparison OF those trHnsla.
tons that 10th Lord Derby and Mr.. Bryant Lave
decided that tie olly truc medium IN which 20 ron
der Homer ~ blank verse. Indeed, Lord DCrb,
when he made h!- first attempts at trausating
Homer, ard befnre be bad made mp lis mind to reu.
der tie Whole of the n,ad, oIrrcs'cd hs conviction
that "if ju,uce was ever TO be done TO the easy dow
pnd mpj'sdc sin p.iciW OF the grand old poet, 1t
could onl. be IN n g heroic blank verse"
To this conclusion Mr.. Tcnnyson has given N
nlcrcutal APT ro,al by his translation ~ the fraE-
mont above quoted In the snme metre. Having re-
ceV,d the consent II throe such men as Tenn
son. Derby, and Bryant, We suppose 1t may be
acc pttd US q conclusion that Homer can hest be
rendered IN blank verse. II this is so, n may also
sun osc that Mr.. Bryant's Translation will be 70
ccyed a. the STANDARD one II does not differ essen
italy from that Of Lord erby. Both have q osr ousl-
ties that Arnold 20 Justly ascrLcs 10 Homer rapid
ity plain ideas, simplc Nords, nobility OF manner
and both pos,tss item In nearly an equal degree
IN osding tie cttlIaicd pafinGcs from one
a0d tie other yCrslOn, II is often difficult To
determine which Ia The more worthy ofudmiraton.
DO CONT l,cly arc botl imluod with the spirit OF IN
Original, faithful are they To every N,rd AMI form
oft1rrcsson, clictous IN the choice Of the eI CT
terms IN vi ch TO cpioGuee the thought. Some.
times Lord Derby VIII seem to have been more hap.
~ IN HIS rendering Of a particular passage, aud
nlan Il another time the merit will lie with Nr
Bryant We believe either Of these TRANSACTIONS su.
plor to an that have lr,eo edcd them and OF the two
We incline to consider Mr. Bryants the better aud
for tbs reason: He's far more largely endowed
with tie Io,ucal faculty than was Lord Derby
TGe latter was only poet for tie
special occasion OF hls trar slaon nnd has produced
no othar kindred work, while Mr.. Bry ants life has
In great nonsure, been given NJ to the cultivation
of the poetic faculty. A. a Consequence, his powers
more varied: his command over the Language
for the purIose Of COMPRISING lis thought Into
mctrical form greater, he vocabulary richer and
more perfect, his taste and Gi.c limitation in forms
OF expression more accurate. In fct he wac in every
way better Gted naturally and better trained by long
habit for the work than the English statesman aud
there cannot he doubt hut that this work Of which
he has Just given the first volume to tie world, will
not only Hdd new honor 20 his name, but give fresh
luttrc to American letters.
The Hon :. $. Cox visited Europe and Africa
last year, al has published handsome volume OF
travels. He calls II A Search for Winter sunbeam,
IN the Roierd, Corsica, AlOieS. and Spain (Arrle
10 ~ AID dcdcatos II to his constituents of the
siIth Con rest0nal District. II they are not crate
ful Tor this ai ntion, they must De Very duh set OF
PEOPLE. Mr.. cox ~ staring and pcturesQu,
writer, tomelimcr lying the American Odglu aheI
lich, and goa II TO tho adventures at lifc AMID
STRANGE scenes and curious people with CNtrdoriiuly
vim ard source. The illust atioRs Of the Voluu,
ere excellent and the printing sumptuous
Tie MOnRrch's NIait-PrcpnrIIiOns Tor q
Grand Rceeptio
The officers If the brooklyn Navy Inri Ure in
pleasant Glow nf ANTICIPATION ind cvHitcmcnt h
view at tt probable VISIT 81 the EIr,u non g. b.,
| M"'rcp, Catsln 'omncrell. which VIII localities.