The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-04-23

placed as TO simulate the effect Of n chord In
music. Add ~ this right use OF ALTERATION,
which Ia only undervalued by those who fail TO
recognize Its limits. The Iteration OF Initial
guttutals is, " course, intoierable, and we
rarely meet with " In Swinburnes work, but
the recurrence Of liquids aud sem-llquids Is a
vital element In the melody Of verse.
While We dwell on the fact, and credit Swim
burne with discerning II, that harmony must be
kopt steadily IN view as the essential vehicle OF
poetry, We cannot forget that the freightaRe
must he worthy the vcnice. Indeed, Wagner
accounts all music worthless unless through
sense II penetratcs the soul, kindIiDg high
thought and generous emotion. On the whole,
wagner's conception of an opera aooOrds more
nearly with the idea OF Greek tragedy "a II OK
listed In the mind Of Elripides, and as II was ac-
tually embodied at the Dionysia, than does our
modern notion Of a play. II IA obvious that
large measure Of lyric power and right ooDcep-
ton OF Its aim aud processes are Indispensable
to the creation OF dram ~ like the Ercohtbeus."
That 50 far swinburne is better qualified than
any living English poet to reproduce a lost
drama Of Iripides, will probably appear from
the extracts we she'll have occasion 20 make.
The argument of Brechtheus had been tire ted
by Euripides In tragedy no Longer extant. The
drama before us Is presented by Swinburne, not
svOwedly but substantially, as substitute for
the original play. Il 10 only gradually, ~ wo
turn the pages Of tho volume, that we appre-
ciate the audacity Of his purpose. Can Eng
lish poet OF our day seriously hope to transport
the reader across the gulf OF twenty centuries,
behind the curtain OF medieval Transformation
and modern growth. beyond the Christian relig-
ion, Roman civilization. add all the pregnant
events which have moulded the lives
and minds OF men, To world whose
horizon and atmosphere, creed, sym
pathies, Ideals aud aspirations we're totally alien
10 the ideas and associations Of the present day?
How will Vt be possible to avoid gliring anacb-
ronisms, Milton could not, rs we snail Sc }, or
at least those subtler but equally fatal incon-
gruities OF thou snt and sentiment inseparAble
from the poets nurtgye ms eDyirNnment2 Suo-
pose, however, the preliminary step lined. that
the reader Is able to approximate tue mood Of
an Athcnian at the high festival OF the Diony-
STA that he IL seated In the great theatre
from whose upper tier the eye sweeps
ecross the Long Wills aud Preus to the
blue AEGEAN and ; lamis-yet to what
task has the writer set himself For Of what
stun IA the play we are to hearf Will II win the
nrst prize, or the thirdf win II show touches
OF the masters handiwork-a glimpse OF the
severe majesty Of sophocles, aquickenin9 stroke
| from "Eutipides, the humln;' or will II prove
! the botchery Of some Ion or Iophos, surviving
by a foolish chance the wreck Of Its co-progeny2
! Clearly It is no light thing to borrow theme
| from Euripidee, and attempt to build upon 1t
/ Greek tragedy which must infalibly invite com
! parison VITA his. Ia such an undertaking abso-
lutte triumph Is not possible, and whether SWIM
burne has relatively achieved success can he best
/ determined after glance at previous expert
ments In the same direction.
Without including transcripts Of Greek plays
| like those which Browning has lately given us
although ir his case vivid translation Ia supple
| mented 10y most incisive and helpful comment
ary-there would seem TO be two ways Of writ
/ ing ant que drama. or indeed Of reDrodu cing an
! tique lite in any literary form, the mosaic and
| the as-milatNe. Ben JoDson Is an English ex-
| ample Of the former method. His " Sc janus and
| "Catiltne are 50 vigilaDty pruned Of anachro-
nisms, aud follow s,udiously tue tent of
Latin authorities, that DRYDEN said: " He go
represents old Rome TO Us, that II one OF her
| own poets had written the tragedies, we had
! seen less OF her than In him." But as might DO
expected, where the mind is intent upon such
microscopic wOra, the Characterization Is fee Ole,
/ the plays want movement and cohesion. and
/ possess about us much vitality "a BeokeTs
"Gallus." Racine, On the other hand. although
he. too. In the "Bfitannicus" rather plques
himself on close adhesion to Tacitus, was
careful to inform his PLAYS with the modern
Z hllllA' hhhiIs thtul uluEc LOT Nne most part OH
the passion of love. which seldom formed the
pivot Of antique drama or played a conspicuous
part In Greek existence.
OF the Assmilatlys process from which alone
a presentation Of anita lily, at once accurate
and lively, could be looked for we have a recent
instance IN Lander. II Is the distinctive merit
Of his Pericies and Asplsia" that while It con-
tains scarcely sentence which can be proved TO
have been uttered by an Athenian, there Is not
one which misht not have been. Swinburnes
method is Identical with Lenders, and In many
respects the younger poet reminds US Of that
| impracticaole man who was himself living
anlchronism The most famous attempt. how
ever, TO re-r the antique tragedy on English soil
and that mainly 10y process or assimilation,
although direct translation Is inteIjected here
and THERE'S the samson Agonlstes.' II may
be Interesting - note Millions happy strokes
and shortco ,ings as we follow In some detail
the course Of swinburnes play.
The story OF the Erechtheus Is one OF the
simplest aud Crandest OF Greek myths. Athens,
assailed 10y Eunoipus, son Of Neptune and King
OF Cleusis, Is menaced with annihilation. Her
| King, Efechtheus. has been apprsed by the Del
phic or Gle that his country can only he re-
deemed 10y the sacrifice OF bis virgin daughter.
The maiden consents, dies. aud ia the battle
which follows both Erechtheus and Eum VI pus
are slain aud Athens IS saved. In a ma estic
type the myth incarnltes the passion OF patriot
Ism, the strongest known to the Greek breast
while Greece VS. strong, and one, happily for
the modern poet who has based his play
| on IT, which we able TO oompre-
nend Greek patriotism, however. was two
fold. The love Of race. OF the whole Hellenic
land as opposed TO the barbarian world, and
especially to that Asiatic empire which doomed
above tue eastern horizon, was at certain peri DDS
fervent and fruitful, and to this Euripides ap-
| pealcd IN his "lphigeneia In Aulis." 1t is the
narrower but far profounder passion which
swinburnes play Is supposed to address-the
love Of a Greek for his own city-abOve all that
OF an Athenian for Athens, OF whose soil he
| believed himself nutochthonous, with whose
glory and prosperity his personal happiness and
pride were iudssolubly blended. Such a theme
Is manifestly safer than that OF his earlier
drama, since II was hardly possible to depict
effectively the love OF Melelger for Atalanta
without an infusion OF modern sentiment. IL
| will be found that the tinge OF romanticism
| which overlaid the classic structure OF the
former piece Is scarcely discernible In the pres
ent work.
Erechthous proloGi2es. lie Is discovered alone,