The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-01-07

movers ike q pale cloud over inc nOr1IOn OF all
MorrIs's work, and In this respect we think that
Wagner has oompsssed more nearly the right
atmosphere, the figures OF his volsungs standing
forth crisp and bold In a clear, cool radiance
like that OF their own northern summer night.
One word as to the meircal form which Nor
rs has adopted and then we will try to afford he
reader glimpse Of Sigurds story In the new We
sion. The " Lay OF the Nibelungen," as we now
have II, Is written In rbymed iamblc quatrains,
each line having six or six and half feet with
strongly marked, invariabe c@sura in the mid
die Of each verse. Morrs's epic IL not unlike
this In effect, for although 1t Ia only broken into
paragraphs, and the scheme of the verse Ia ana
pestic the number Of feet in line is the same,
and the cesura holds corresponding place.
The similarity will be plain enough upon com
parlson of a distich from each poem
DO wuohs In Nideriandcn-cins cdlen kHnegos kint
Dts water der hicz siegcnunt- ain muoter aigchnt.
But sismu md laughed and answered-and be spakc
"Ano II take twice that treasure will i.buy odn's
.~ord2"
From the extracts which we may make the
reader will probably infer that tho measure
which Morris has here chosen is capable of great
variety and melody.
The poem opens with description OF King
v0lsung's dwelling and the wedding Of his
daughter signy-wc repeat that Morris covers
the whole ground divided between the medieval
LAY" and wagner's tctralogv. We quote half
a dozen of the initial couplcts in order to illus
trate the rythm and music of the verse, and we
might also point out the charaot eristlc touch In
| the last lines:
There was dwelling Of kings the world waxen
Dukes were the doorwards there aud the roofs
sSrS s HusT wSas that and silver nailed
Eirls' wives we're the weaving women queens daugh
Ano the masters OF It's songcraft were the mighucst
The salts Vi the of battle adown the bickering
There dwet merry hearted. and In hope exceeding
MET good days the evil they went the way Of
There the gods were unfor!otten. yea whites they
Though o'cn in that worlds beginning rose murinur
OF The ndsdrd time and the fading and the last OF the
Ana catering In Of the terror and the death of the
Peoples Praise.
That the reader may judge how carefully the
| text Of the old myth is reproduced, We SGT be-
side the words ascribed to Signy In the crisis Of
what may be called the nrst catastrophe the cor
responding passage Of the " Ndlsunga Saga.
And she said. my youth was happy bot this hour be
| HE n best
OF all the days OF my he-tide that shall have
have come TO greet thee, sigmund then back again
For his bed me Goth.king dishteth have lain there
Aad loalled The sleep won therei but 10, how all
Andhsars are changed and sonened, for lovely 1t
Yet fear my forgetting; shall 500 thee In my
mighty king OF the world meath the boughs OF the
wlth thine earls aud thy lords about ,hee the VOL
| sung fashion hath btsns
And then shall all ye remember how Iioyed the volsung
Nor spared spend for It's blooming. my 10y and my
life ana my tame
For tlou that sinnoti who hath wrought out our
WAC aaih compaseed about King sigse with sea Of
Who brake ny grave asunder-my child and thine he Is.
Begoi IN that house OF the DWarKnd tor other IND
The sou OF volsunes daughter the sou of volsunes
LsoS. look Might another helper this deed with thee
The Icelandic prose paraphrase runs as fol-
lows;
hsye Eept XII sisgcif IN memory and Ms sayins q
voung tas Sl,s Lee Lay both ny chlld,e, wnom
lweht into the WOOD TO thee M witch ~ifos shape
roth add therefore srss, h.rdihooi aud
SsSns d tsi ne e saf .'n a s0 sd ssas
nsys % wrought ga, klas ssssr mi ;nt se nis oane
asn. tan 90 nm snq sn. 400 NIGH. no. Nye o Sas
| was naught merry 10 wed hun
We would gladly quote at greater length tal-
though an EPIC poem unlike lyrle cannSt Of
the forging OF the sword, Fafnlrs bane. the Il v
ing OF Fafnlr, the awakening OF Brynhid. and all
| those scenes and incidents which are handled In
wagner's dramas. II would be interesting, too.
to trace In the fourth book OF the English poem
parallel with the latter aud stronger half Of the
Nibelungen Lied. That, however. would carry
US too far aud the reader has perhaps alread ,
seen reason to believe that the appearance
" this latest, rpcst, and most ambitious Of
hoTriss works Is Indeed no ordinary event, ana
that this new version of the great legend of the
North Ia the most signal contribution TO Engish
poetry since the writing Of Childe Harold.