The herald., 1893-06-04
fpY i. pEnYMER.1

The Riverside preeH Of the Houghton,
Mifilin & Company have just isaued
"Greek Poets in Englieh Verse;" by va
rious translators, edited, with introduc'
ton and notes, by William Hyde Apple
ton, professor OF Greek in Swarthmore
college. The editor has attempted in
this work to do for Greek poetry,
through the medium OF tranaatinR,
what has been 30 often done for English
poetry, that is, to give to the reader,
within the compass Of single volume,
some idea OF its wealth, and ut the came
time to ntimniate and guide him 70 fur
ther and more thorough reading. The
study OF the Greek language would
seem to be coming more and more TO be
the study of the few. But q knowledge
OF Greek history, Greek art, Greek liter
ature, thought and feeling is the con-
Germ of everybody. Fortunately, these
thnge are not the monopoly OF Greek
scholars. The English language now
contains much excellent tranelation
from the Greek, both prose and poetry,
scattered, however, through multitude
OF volumes.
With the additional aid OF the HIS
tories OF Greek literature, the many
critical essays upon Greek subjects, to-
gether with such works es the eeries OF
Ancient Classics for English Readers, 1t
has become quite possible to pursue a
Greek course in English. Indeed, there
would seem to be no reaeon why our
higher schools and colleges should not
give In the English language, courHeH in
the study of Greek and Latin literature
to their non-classical students. Mr..
Richard G. Moultons Of England, who
has had large experience in THE matter
of teaching ancient literature in tranH-
lation, has shown In America, az in
England, how attractive these themes
may be made TO large audiences OF per
cons not supposed to be acquainted with
the subject will bo surprised at the rev.
elation OF the astonishing wealth OF Greek
poetry in spite Of all its losa, in this
book poetry 30 rich,
As ia tho ooze and bottom of the sea
With sunken wreck and sunless troaEurieB.
This very richness of material has
made the task of selection one OF no lit
tie difficulty.
The passsges given in the work are
fairly representative Of the great ages
and phaees of Greek poetry. But as no
tastes OF all, some of the readers may
miss the very thing they hope to find.
The yexed question OF Homeric trnnBa-
tion 10 not discussed, for it ia safe to cay
that no version has yet met all demands.
For the Had two passages have been
given from Chapman, on account oil his
position in literature as an Eli2abethan
classic. II the truth must be told, his
ie the last translation in the world to be
recommended TO the general reader. phc
reason is apparent. Chapman is hard
reading. Every page has vigorous
phrasing and passages OF sweet poetic
charm, but at the 6ans time.
we can read scarcely dozen
lines consecutiyely without being
brought up suddenly by some obscurity
of the sense through his qusintness, in
directness or looscness Cf construction.
1t is too much to ask of readers of trans-
lation that they should stop every few
minutes to puzzle over the meaning OF
what they are reading. Pope, however
inadequate from the point Of view OF the
scholar, ia in style vigorous and brilliant
and has the important merit demanded
in q ranelation--thst OF being readable.
This Ia the reason why the selections
from the Had have been made chiefly
from him, while passages have been
given in the spirited ballad measures OF
Maginn-his efforts in this direc-
tion being an interesting expert
ment and cleverly executed, but
sufficiently convincing that the ballad
manner is not the manner of Ho-
mer. As for that dream of scholars
and poets alike--a successful rendering
of Homer into English in the original
dactylic hexameters-it seems little
likely Of realization; though here and
there great success has been attained
with single passages, az in DR.. RaW
try's Helen on the Walls OF Troy, and in
+, @. Stedman's Death OF Agamemnon
both given in this volume. The plan o
the work excluded prose revisions, hui
it ie, nevertheless, through these tha
the non classical reader must gain hii
nearest approach to Homer. The beau
tiful versione OF the Odeesev, by Messrs
Butcher and Lang in England and Prof
G. III, Palmer in America, are instances
of marvellous success in close prose
translation.
Our debt to the Greeks--in art, il
literature, in philosophy-has been mi
vereally recognized. Great az ia our oh
legation in the realm of art, it ia ss grea
in that of literature. There is no art t.
tell us how this work may again b
done. The wrath of Achilles, the wan
derings of Ulysses, the woes of tn
house OF Thebes, and the tragedy of tn
house OF MycenRe etill hold ue under tn
spell of their tremendous power, bu
they can never be told again. TIL
Greeks created; they initiated mono no
can they be initiated, for the secret {
their art lies "dseper than ever plum
met sounded" The great lines Of pee
ical development were in the Epic, tn
Lyric and the Drama. We sec the tw
great epics, whoever the author, whstevt
the process Of their construction, consi
tent, harmonious wholes--different /
kind, but equal in charm. The Iliad
not, as might seem from its name, tn
story of Ilium; that is it does not te
the entire story OF the Trojan War.
narrates but an episode, occurring
the tenth year of the long struggle, an
at the close of the poem Troy is sti
unteken. When we turn from the Ills
to the Odessey, we pass into
different world. And what q worl
of infinite variety and beauty
The Iliad echoes with ii
din Of war. The Odeseey is g story
adventure, full of the wild and thrillin
but not wanting in sweet pictures
idyllic charm. The poet takes us in
the wonderland of the early wprl
These subjects and much more ie mat
palmer in the pages of this book, al
we not only owe our indebtedness to &
author, but aleo to the great translate