New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-10-13
NEW PUBLICATIONS.

THE LATIN POEMS OF LEO KILL Done into English
baltimore: John Mnrphy X Co.
The present Pope is not only an eminent
tbeologian aud philosopher he is also an elegant
Latinist and n we'll known lover OF polite letters.
In him the culture of earlier time. when the art
of turning verses in the idiom of Horace ana virgil
was an essential part of general scholarship mas
been carefully preserved long after II mas ceased 10
be common accomplishment; ana the pains whlch
he has recently bestowed upon the publication OF a
volume of his poetcal pieces shows that he sets
value upon these polished products of his studous
leisure. We have here two long hymns to the
martyrs Herculanus and Constantius both bishops
of Perugia the see fllei at time by Leo himself
The verses haze the fervor of the old breviary
writers. and at the same time recount sanity
legends with classical conciseness and grace OF
narration. In an address to himself written more
than half century ago, the author laments his
bodily ailments with a somewhat prosac par
ticularity and draws the conclusion that the next
life alone is worth his desires. In another poem
ending with similar reflection, he sketches the
principal events in his career before his elevation
to the Papacy and the translator causes him, IN TWO
of the stanz u.s. to slip in word OF compliment 10
himself; for this oddty. however. tue Lat'n
original affords no justification. The most polished
of the poems the short addresses to his irleno
and to persons whom he held in especial esteem LOT
the piety of their lives In these the neat anu
musical phrase to fit exactly with the gentle
Thought: and if the turn is not alv avs truly
epigrammatic it is always agreeable and often
ingenious
So mnch of the charm of this sort of verse lies in
The metrical form the exact choice OF words, and
The refinement of a construction which nc other
Language can reproduce that the attempt ut trans
lation is never satisfactory. In the present case
the versions made by the younger inmates Oh inc
Jesuit House of Studies at Woodstock. Maryland
are of very unequal merit; some are fluent, some
are quite rude; but the best OF them only serve 10
make it clear that the metrical recreations OF MS
Holiness should be left in the language in winch
he composed them. AS literary exercises they arc
highly interesting; but take away their original
form and it must be confessed that the inward
spirit of poetry does not seem strong The volume
contains the Latin text and the translation on
opposite pages it is very han lsomely printed, but
the coarse wood-cut portrait is serious dishgure-
ment
A LEIsURELY JOURNEY. by WILLIAM LEONARD
GAGE. l6mo. pp K, 1863 d. Lothrop & Co.
The Rev. Mr. Gage, of Hartford. gives in this
small and unpretending volume some pleasant
desutory "reminiscences of vacation tour In
Europe About half his pages are devoted to
England, aud principally to parts of England
which, though hardly of the track of the ordinary
traveller are not too often described. Berlin.
Leipsic the Tyrol and Switzerland also came
within the range Of his excursions and offer the
material for a few slight chapters. lie has
attempted no serious studies of foreign life, and he
has copied none of the lore of the guide-books The
interest of his remarks culled he says iIom his
private letters lies in the fact that they are the
easy and unconventional comments of a genial
observer.