New-York tribune., 1891-05-17

,rar,s ao NJ ,vvo ercat olasses-he soft, now
ing tender sweet, but langud the other quon, = n.y.,
and acrid. There epigrams In whlch tno ~ ,,,s
rendered the conclusion obvious; and others III
an unexpected phrase was exploted at une 49,
Among Miss Pewy's translatons are TO be iouno sPe,
mems that correspond purpose, If not in forh W inc
modern of society" to the sonnet 10 'nc
epiernm In its sgnlncaton, to the ePi'sp' V"'
poetical inscription the emblem and the pNe ~ ~
Choice whether Of subject or metre, was pounaie''
So Agathlas introducing his collection OF new anu ou
writings OF this kind intending his own, declaeu 'A'
bc had gathered them not merely from books Du' aso
from statues monuments and tombs and adaed
that they disclosed the manifold variety of huina'l
life exempiAed the ineonstancy and decens Oh
fortune treasured merry sayings, treated OF Ds"q"oVs
and ,convivialty and sounded the praises Cf "oman
and of love.
Often the episram by its enforced brcvity, LEFT the
reader at a loss 10 divine the writer's meaning oHeh
one lucxy or charming thought served many uses IL
is commonly said of fine statue picture that II is
lifelke or-more efusivey-tat 1t lives or oreathes'
or almost seems to speak. The epgram writer's "on'
nigh wore this fancy out one, describing statue
of Niobc turns II by saying that sculptor "ia'lcn
alone in giving life to her the gods made stone" An
other credited Praxltelcs with skill to undo what the
gods had done to restore TO life the unconscious
stone Here Is another turn to the same thought:
| Where is Praxiteles7 and where. oh where
The hand of Polyceltas who could give
Such grace to marble as should make IL hVe'
| Again, lover Stimulates fright on seeing statue
OF Eros sleeping, and exclaims that boy Is weaVins
some new plot in his dreams Antipater OF sio0n,
wishing to atter Myron, the famous sculptor OF amman
| figures said that the lie had carved decelVeu
| even the calves Demetrius OF Bithyna sent tle
herdsmen to drive the. stone home; and Julian,
| eager to outdo all rivals, made the image protest
| against being taken away from Its owner, hyron'
Another clever thought Of some poet was to make
fading beauty offer her mirror in the temple OF Aphro
dite because she had no further for It, This was
TOO good chance to miss the same incident, dis
gused in various recurs again and aean IN thn
Anthology The dexerity OF these tricks with word,
and especially the studied simplicity OF the GreeS
writers is often we'll initiated by the translator ana
where her English lacks the niphleneis OF the original
| she has at least suggested 'the play on worn OF
phrase by which the old poets achieved Their purpose
The book may do its part In correcting tle tchdsnts
TO nanty which prevails II 1t turns the mlnds OF I.
scholarly makers OF polished verse with nothing III II
| back to the study OF these early poets. All the
nv steries OF STYLE are hidden In the nooks OF Ihc
Anthology II the versifer OF today thinks ne mas ~
| uyon new fancy, let him turn the leaves tnis @
Greek collection. The chances are hundred 20 one
that he will find ii In a better form than ne can give
IT, After an indefinite repetition of this experience.
he NAV come TO the conclusion-a good one ior the
poetcsl practitioner whose speech Is Engilsh-that
he ought really to have something to wrlte before
! he begins nbbling his pen for words