The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-07-02

1t is obvious that the Incidents and turns OF
expression In the lines collated bear such close
resemblance that tho inference OF a common
origin 10 well nigh irresistible. But French
critic has pointed out that while the English
poem is a model OF metricai perfection. the YER
sion OF his fellow-countryman IL defective In
this respect, certain lines wanting whole foot,
and he has likewise indicated several blunders
In grammar and syntax. IL seems more reason
able, therefore, to regard the French stanzas as
rude attempt TO repro duce an English MASTER
piece than to suppose that Wolfe could make a
literal translation incomparably more spirited
aud elegant than the original In this case the
question Of priority must be- determined by In.
herent probability, because, altho ugh the Incl
dent In the siege of Pondicherry occurred In the
middle OF the last century, the date Of the com
position portraying II is by no means satisfac-
torily established.
1t Is OF course open to the skeptical to affirm
that Frenchman and EnEilshman alike were in
debted To third person. and this conclusion
will be accented by those who admit the genu-
ineness Of the German poem put forth by the
writer in the Europa. These verses are said to
have been composed I'm honor of a general slain
at the siege Of Dantzlg somewhat more than
two centuries ago. The Leipzig review identi-
nes this officer with Iorstenson the Swede, who,
his bed and was buried In Stockholm but the
claims OF Its protece are not demolished by this
bIunder, since the generals name is not men
toned in the lines. Moreover, a glance at three
or four stanzas Ill probably convince the reade
that the anonymous author, IN respect Of artistic
skill, Is very nearly the peer OF Wolfe. WeQuote
tue first, the last, and an intermedi late verse:
KEN Grabgesang. keine Trommel erscnou
AZ Az gum VA. seine Ie'ehs VA huDen'
WOwn sull unstrn Heden begruben.
Gar LANCE GeDete hiel en wir nioht,
Wiz spraehen KEN Wort Won svrgen.
Wiz shauten nur fest auf das tOd.c Geslcht
Und uHcAten mt schnerz An den Morgen.
Wiz legten Inn lanRsam und traurig hinen
Frlsch buIend yum Feoo der Ehren,
Wir lesstn Ohm CARDINAL uni Ohm Leichenstein
I'm nur NIT dcm fuhnle gewahren.
One parallel stanza from Wolfe's eegy has
been given above, ana the reader may ind II
convenient to have the Others before his eye.
Not drum was heard not funeral note,
40 his corse 10 the rdnparts We hurried;
Not a so dieI discharged "A farewell shot
ger the grave where Gun hero was buried.
Few and snort were the prayers we said.
And we spoke not a word OF sorrow.
Bat We s.Nsai.sI' ss1 on ne face Of the dead.
Slowly and sadly we Land him down
From tue mead OF his tame, fresh and gorYi
We carved ~ a line We raised not al stone,
But we left him a.one IN ILLS tlory.
Whether genuine or spurious. this German
lyric Is certainly an extraordinary performance
Whichever writer should be credited with the
tour de force, the almost perfect verbal Identity
Of tue two poems, reaching even to the scrupu
lous employment OF female rhymes In CORE
spending places, must be counted among the
maryels of literature. How idle II appears to
descant ON the insuperable difficulties Of poeti-
cal Translation In the face OF such success as
either Wolfe or some anonymous German has
here achieved. Ii is conceivable that in some
details the latter's verse may be preferred, and
Z or our wn part we confess that the line
From the neld Of his fame. fresh and CORY,
seems less pleasing than its German counter
part. On the other hand. Of that felicitous al
liberation for which Wolle's lines are so otter
cited there is not trace In the other piece
This circumstance, however. has no bearing OF
the question Of priority Of authorship.
When We set these poems side by side, II 1,
| plain enough there has been piracy somewhere
But TO whose charge the fraud should be laid /,
problem not easily solved until information
more copious and trustworthy than any We
vouchsafed to us renders It possible to tx til,
date and trace the history OF the German verses
II they are really modern fabrication, like tn
| Rowley poems OF Chatterton, we can understan.
the writer's reluctance to assign them to a givsI
| epoch Of the eighteenth or seventeenth cen
| fury, since some anachronism OF thought O
expression might he detected on close scrutiny
| The absence of a full and specific statemen
| respecting the source and date of the German
lines, OF itself, compels suspicion, and until tn
Europa Ia able TO remedy the defect of syidence
wo must continue to claim an English origin 70
The Burial OF Sir John Moore"