The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-03-31

indcfatieablo pains and happy accident, the
equals of their originals. any moro than we
would hold voss's mnstcrly hexamctcrs in all
ways comparable to Homer's. On tho whole.
however Notwithstanding the Deficiencies
which Little reflection upon the translators
scheme will show to have been inevitable. we
consider that Mr.. Dyrscn. by his noteworthy OK
pertinent. has rendered substantial service to
the English reading public. And because con-
cr,tc example is at oncc more effective and
more just to an author Than CONCENTRATIONS. We
propose to illustrate his method Of rcproduc-
ton in the ease of two or three poems unvcr-
sally familiar. by setting his versions side by
side with the original lyrics.
Here. for instance. is Mr.. Dyrscn S trars Station
of well-known ballad. where. to indicate pre-
ciscly wha, he does aud what he fails to do. we
have INTERCEPTED the German lines between the
English stanzas:
King IN Uluma Thule rs war Gin Kong In Thule
Was uithiul in the crave, Gar rru In. an das grab.
Aso'dc" cup hi" gave Lingn soldne" 0echer
Above all things he praised Esgng linn NIGHTS darhcr
II. Err lcrft Tim Iede n
But whVusucSrr he raised II Die Augu gingcn Inn ubeT
lie drank WIN eyes SUI ~ oil "a trnuS daraus.
Before his last he hrcah6d und ais KAN stcrben
Except his golden cup count nilcs scincm Irbcn
Den Bccher nicht Ntuch
lie sat with vassals loyal Er sass hem K0ng-mahie
Al table. with hi- kuights ID, Ritter uin ihu her,
within his palace royal Aui huhcm Na,rsaalc
Upon tie seagirt heights Dor, ao dem seo-s am
once moro the Old bort stand der Ate zcchcr
with love OF wine fiAnk leise Lebcns vluth.
The cup. his sacred rousor. B,cher
Into ia, sca lie aGns iI,nuni,r IN die Floth
lie watched the falling Er sab inn st,rgcn irinken.
drinking. nd siukDn tee
And sinkimI golden CUP, De Auarn Maten INN
We
IN ~ fraps III, cincn Tropicn
Dfank never anothcrdrop nohr
We need not point out that the translator's
punciilious adherence to the rhyme and metre
oi the original has compelled some changes Of
imagery ~ we'll as recourse in the first stanza
to- purely sup'rnumcrary word. II may Ice
that most readers VIII prefer Mr.. Longfcllow =
version of the same ballad; but that It is fair To
remember. was an isolated effort. whic Mr.
Dyrsen's performance represents only one out
Of many hundreds of poems. all reproduced
with the same heed To rythmical and musical
correspondence. We may now pass To some
thing Of very different quality, namely, the little
poem entitled Gefundeu." and supposed to
symbolic Goctho's relation to Christiane:
H. silent forest Ioh ging i'm Waldo
Musu. went. Suinr mich him.
r.mothiug srgu- u.d nicht. ~ .nchen
Wy mind "a-h' paswNr mem Sim
In .eele ~ dccg't In 9ss,,en .ni,
Liec .Arlhhtt~ usung We -,cruc ruch'ri
ma lrfltt eyed Wa Al-lriu ~clou
when would pioktt len VOLT, hrcchcn
"Noudon,t WANTING. sonich tlm W,iaon
80 soon 10 Jade Dlhrts l,n semi
WIN all 1t, rootcis len grabs init allen
And - ny garden znm CART, trur ich.
Brought Il 10 spfDut An hubsCheh hAus.
And there planted unl rhamzte- wlcd,r
1t rin,cs nud blossoms Nan 1v,ntc. iminer
Ihis N'N h"nr bnd biuht ~ tolt
Hero. again 1t may bc said that Mr.. Calvert
has made more fclictous version. especially
OF the last two stanNs but. W" repeat. 1t Is one
thing to daintily treat n single song and another
to reproduce in lyrical fac-simile the entire
corpus Of Go.thcs lyric verse. We should have
liked to supplement the above examples with
some Of the clegiars In which the poets cpstrs
and epigrams were cast and which. awkward
NJ they seem To- English hands ara manage
with no ordinary d"xt"rty 10y Mr. Dyrsen.
Only those WHO have tried 10 write English pen
ian-nters are likely to appreciate his perform
ancts in that direction. We must fDrsg0. how
ever. further extracts. aud would only say
in general that the pootical merit of
thcS" TRANSACTIONS aside from their pruscdiral
nleliyl il of very difcrcn, degrees some being
decidedly superior. and others. again. inferior
to the instances hero cited. Mr.. Dyr-en prob
ally would not claim that he has compt,.od
that high ideal Of translation 80 for.ihy cx-
pressed hy Dryden" True To- his author'-
sens. but trler 20 his fame. Sone the less
d'. lis elaborate attempt TO reveal Co.. EnsLsh
cars thr .d. nir.i -irl ilr. march. anal uirlv.iy
ol nnrinr.- song d -rry" ,cr"u- attention. am 4
uou.Af'o please ans stimulate % WiDoc.r D. cd
readers.