New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-04-20

GREEK POETS IN ENGLISH VERSE. By various
translator Edited. with introduction and notes.
by william HYDE Appleton. professor OF Greek III
warbmorc College. PIP. Xvi. $780, llonghton'
Milin 4 Go.
" The study OF tho Greek language, says froifS-
scr Appleton in the preface 10 this handsome book
would seem 10 he coming more and more To De
the study of thc few" Granting, for the sake OF
argument, that this is true, there is some reason
fer inqnirng whether the Greek professors are nov
themselves 10 blame in part for this growing III
difference. real or alleged. The note OF admra-
tion for Greck letters is certainly pitched rather
high for prosaic practical sceptic generation
like the which is now watching the dcclih-
ing years OF the nineteenth century Professor
Appleton's critical essay though In point oil style
excellent, bctrays the tendency 10 cNagGoration
which is characteristic of much modern discussion
on Greek literature In the presence of the great
masters of Greek poetry all culogy is vain. There
is simply M satisfying estimate TO ne made of
their surprising merit Nor is there any final
analysis that can lay bare the germ process from
which spranr such flowcrlike perfection" If
this is literally true, then the English object Of
study is taken away from those who aspire to an
acquaintance with Greek literature. Indisputa-
bic perfection dcfes discussion. 1t is above criti-
cism IL can only be admired and the attitude of
widc-cyed, open-mouthcd wonder is wearlsome
An irrefragible creed makes the wretched sinner
banker after a little hercsy.
All that Professor Appleton says in praise OF the
Had. for example. may be accepted, AMI then II
may he added frankly that duller, moro perfume
tory verse was never written than some passages
of The Tale of Troy Divine passages which
never grace anthology. but figure portentousy
in treatises on the Iomcric question. OF course,
IL il easy 70 say that he who fails 10 admire Is
lacking in poetic insight but the very essence OF
perfection is that il must be the same to all eyes
To accuse another of lack OF taste is exactly
equivalent TO saying that your own ideal does not
rise 10 the level Of absolute beauty. IL is the
fact that Homer mods sometimes contrasted with
the other fact that the epos is a model OF sym
metry as a whole, which makes the authorship
indeterminate a mystery that cannot he solved
10 any ones satisfaction except by himself-"a
spectre" as Professor Appleton calls it, (which
il would seem will never down." He does not
try 20 Law the ghost, to solve the insolublc: but
boldly AMI sensibly accepting the necessity of in
decision, declares that it affects in no way the
legitimate pleasure 10 be derived from llomerc
literature :" But the question of tine authorship
Of the Iliad and Odyssey need not concern us here
Interesting as il is in some ways and leading IN
cidentally 20 some profitable results 1t is, never
theless, so far its solution is concerned, like
the wandering wood Of Errour, IN which Una and
the Knight went so woefully astray, or like those
speculations of Millions fallen angels who found
no end IN wandering mazes lost. But our failure
20 solve the mystery of their origin need not dis
turb our enjoyment of the poems. Whoever the
author whatever the process of their construction
here are the two great cpcs. consistent, harnoni-
Gus wholes different in kind, but equal in charm
On the other hand, Professor Appleton may I'M
derestimate the proportionate number oil those
interested in the Greek language AMI IN one
phase another of Greek literature in its original
form. The deeply learned were not numerous even
in the hest days of Greece. They have never been
numerous since. But ii is just possible that the
number of people who know something of Greek,
who can cOnstruc sentence, If need he, Is greater
now than il ever was. Within the circle of
given college the question is not whether the rea-
tive proportion Of Greek devotecs keeps up, but
whether or not the absolute number of these Is
greater than il was in the days when learning was
less popular and less accessible than it is now.
Those OF us who love a little Greek need not he
discouraged because the interests of scholarship
are becoming as wide civilization, even though
we may cherish a genial compassion for those who
despise Hellenic studies until it is too late for
them to remedy the defect.
The particular excellence Of Professor Appeton's
anthology is the wide range of style secured by
selecting from a great number of translators. One
may contrast here the cloying sweetness Of Pope
living poets are represented, and the editor en-
presses his thanks to Mrs. Lila Cabot Perry Pro-
fess0r William c. Lawton and Edmund {. Sted-
man for permission 10 copy from them. He has
modest1y confined his translatng TO three
pieces from Sappho, and the scene from Sophoces
describing the arrival of Ocdipus with Antgone at
Colonus The last il dgniied version not un-
worthy Of the original Sapphos Hymn TO
Aphrodite" is rendered in the original metre, and
A. of
Greek "1'hroned in splcndor" seems vague
equivalent for a word which represents Aphro-
dite's scat as ornamentcd with pictures. 1t is,
besides, very close to Sir Edwin Arnold's phrase
"Splendor throned Queen" Why picturc-throned"
Is not as good compound as splendor-throncd'
L. hard 20 see. Professor Appeton's version OF
the "Glukea mater is admirable, with all the
compactncss Of the original
Sweet mother, ! spin no more to-day.
And all for a youth who has stolen my heart away.
The remaining Of his TRANSACTIONS is from
the two-lire apostrophe TO Evening, which though
expanded TO a quatrain. does not suffer in com
parson with other versions. II has something oil
the delicacy and tenderness of Byrons paraphrase
which are lacking in Sir Edwin Arnolds. The
want of these deprvcs Arnod's epigrammatic rem
derlng of the excellence that would make all fu-
ture translation Of this Sapphc fragment super
fuous. Professor Appleton puts it thus:
O Iesperus! Thou bringest all things home;
AL that the gari>h day lath scattered wide:
The sheep. the goat. back to the welcome Told:
Thou brlngst tie child too, to his mothers side.
Here "garish day" is certainly false note.
which neither Sappho nor any other Greek would
have struck. She loved the dawn too well. The
TRANSACTIONS followed by several pages of notes
comprising biographical information and specific
criticism various authors. Altogether, the |
book is TO awaken affection not only for
Il. h.,Af To- La lich