New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1878-01-22
NEW PUBLICATIONS.


corT,rE,s POEMS. TRANSLATED IN TIE ORIG
NAL METRES. BY PAUL DfRsiS. limo PIP ga
i. W. Christoin.
A volume which is 80 evidently the result ol Pl"-
longed and deyout labor has right at least 10 tne
most careful consideration. The more the Necessity
of prcserying the form OF the original Is recognized
by the translator, the more ariuous hs TASK nc
comes. Even with 'hc advantage Of a born metrlcai
car and q trained habit OF rhvthInica expression,
tho ,oinor poeus of Goethe offer hun scrles OF
ol,,nst usurmouuta able obstacles. In the first place.
he must have at his command an unusually rch
vocabulary; next, he must be acquainted with the
range of synonyms; and finally, he must so ASSUME
late the music and movement of the ougIhdl as u
produce something very similar, IN MS own nan
guage. When, therefore, we find foreigner "iio
$50 far as we know has never oSSayed 10 express HIS
own independent conceptions IN Engilsh VERSE;
graphing with the severest task when any oi our
native ooeis could assume we must admit that any
measure of performance, this side OF decided laiIe'
claims recognition The wonder - indeed, that the
work should have been done at all. Yet ilr. Dyrseh
has gone further than any previous translator moi
only in adherne 10 the exact forms of the original
poems but also in reproducing the entire contents
or the first volume of Goethes works including the
Elegies Epstles, Epigrams and Rhymed Sayings
Work of such scope and such difficult character
must necessarily he unequal. The want ofa fnl Eng
lish vocabulary, of stock of words which come wheh
they are needed, instead Of being sought leads'n-
evtably to a oOseT rendering, as is evident through
out the d" Dedication" and i'll many OF The shorter
lyrics. But a still greater disadvantage is the 1ai
ure 30 discriminate between the dialect OF prose ana
poetrv No one can possibly feel the nice distinc-
ton between the poetic and the lrosaic value Oh
words who has not been compelled to learn 1t by
A. of for is
need Take for instance, the last two lines OF
Goetbe's Fisher" where strictly literal transla-
ton is all that is necessary
Half drew she him. half sank he in,
Aud neyernOre was seem
We cannot guess why Mr.. Dyrsen should have
substituted these lines:
With nattery bland and cunning grim,-
The boy seen no more.
Then, what does the translator mean, in the
"Wanderer's Night-Song" by rendering the line
"Aeh ich bin des Ireibens mide!t' (Ah am weary
of the worry into Tired of ecstasy unTitfy" The
second song that exquisite Jeber allen GpttIa, he
gives thus:
In the tops the highest
Is rest,
And thou espest
Naught but blest
Stiffness around
Thou wilt like the birds Outot number
Eall into Slunher
Tranquil and sound
tirely lost in the effort to retain the metre. Let Us
see how Longfellow, taking a single liberty with the
latter, echoes the pathos Of The original
Ger all the hill-tops
l. quiet now;
In all the tTec-tOls
Nearest thou
Hardly breath
The birds asleep In the trees;
wait; and soon like these
Thou, too, shalt rest.
Mr. Dyrsen should have carefully consulted the
best previous TRANSACTIONS of some of the poems.
He might at least, have learned not to omit the ar
tice the before certain nouns, nor to make such
free use of the auxiliary do, especially in the imper
alive mood. His use of many English words is also
frequently stretched beyond the widest license and
we are constantly annoyed, after rtIdlp2 Il stanza
which surprises Us by its skill. TO come upon coup
lets winch single word makes lddicTOus. When
this happens rs il sometimes does in a song OF ten
der sentiment the result is fatal. little question
ing might also have taught Mr. Dyrsen that is not
lawful TO terminate English hexameter lines with
the words The, Of his or her. Since he undertook to
preserve the original metres. which pure and
lovely he should have taken special pains to avoid
imperfect metres in English Otherwise. it was not
necessary to sacrifice meaning to metre, as he so
frequently does. The light sportiye portion of the
collection is much better done than that which is
grave, picturesque. or pathetic. Among the
"Rhyned Sayings" Also many cOuplets or Quat-
rains are quite pithily reproduced The volume
represents an amazing amount Of labor and patience
and one cannot but feel sincere respect for the
thor. while denying him success which, under the
circumstances was scarcely possible.