New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-12-26

From The Saturday Review.
II IL difficult to enter into the mental condi-
ton ~ the pcrpetrator OF this inpertlhehc. ~
great English writer. To understand WHAT H'.
It. Galcnne has dared to do. the rcader must
he reminded Of one or two facts. About the
year 1873 Edward T!tzGerald. under the ni-
rcction Of Professor Cowcn. began to STUDY lrr
sian and after some experiments win HahI
a,1 I1rni and tho Mantle OF Altar ne settled
down e. that remarkable little fellow. omar
Khayv1m The 'I;ubhiyAt' were not great
poetry: TitzGcra'd even deprecated i'r'i'SS",
Co,y.rS scorn NJ him for STOPPING to the second
ratr i.ut there was something IN the spirit 81
these v,rf,s which soothod FlH''erald. omar
hr-aihcs sort " consolation over me; IN
1871 b. was "skctching" versions. first IN i-atlh.
then i'm EnciiSh. presently he invented a stan
za.c iorn analogous to the tetrastich ~ the
original. In 1859 he put forth. anonymously
that translation Of the astronomer poet which
ranks a. "a masterpiece ~ English poetry and as
one ~ the treasures OF the Victorian age.
This translation" Of FitzGerads IL prac-
tcally an original work. By the universal yer
dict II Oriruialists IL vastly sufi1SH'S IT'S niE-
iual IN pn,if,il merit Many QuatTdlns. as FLU
Gerald slid ere mashed together many more
are simply invented by IN" exquisite English
poet Who derkcl the Try bones Of Omar khay-
yam with tLr Ncsh ~ his genius. The forim une
shirt thu lovely originality II ~" whole thinE
are FiizGcrald's. just as th" credit II Hamlet
belongs 90 Shakespeare and not 10 som" pos
eihlc precursor. the credit - tn" Ancient
Mariner" {, Co'oril,e ard not - ihai obs 'ure
Sh"ivnrk. from whom b" took tn tale F"r
rrari. fort. years. under ~" uhnl' OF 'htI
Khnsy.n. EGrard FlUGcrIiT's original poem
has hr,-n moving among rs. rfaiualiS Ming
the air with it's del .oss fragrance fr'''"'y
winning The IrIisr which Is ia" 20 d con uii
mate thing don" ono" i"r All b" a's''D'' i''l''
ton.
VIVA, then is TO be- con.l udcd about th" men
tai condition f NJ Richard l." Galii'nnr
serflru.ffal journalist. a.fi.f .f "If " "rr
God" ,,ho dances forward and launtily pro
poses 70 reuritc this perfect poem . FiizGrr
aids and improve it, He ~ "F F"fsihh. "'
courss and VIII NJ lcl~t come 'l . - 'h" 'i j.;
mai - no means. 800 his own % NIX NJ l.r
-;alli.nn.. docs not know ono Wuid - PERSIAN
IIc has invented a metro NOR" appropriate t.
the spirit Of the tctrastich' Not at all, h. can
form no opinion "A TO that spirit. Tor he can
neither spell nor scan IN" words of omar. ne
accepts without modification. the metre invent
cd hv Fitzo.rald II. viii. at least. correct the
sentiment - the English poet when II fails To
rcrrcs,ni the thought Of the original? Certainly
NOT f.r MIR H. GallicnEr boasts "a absolute an
ignorance of the philosophy AZ Of the IhngnAg'
Of Persia. what. then. does Mr. l." Galliennc
offer to u.s. what does hc propose 10 40 We
can discover no aim whatever. except the prop
osition 20 rcwritc Edward Fitzi'craidS poem
and improve 1t as poetry
Let Us see how NJ I.c Galliennr succeeds In
this bold and pcrilous enterprise. with nothing
in the Persian to support him. In "A mere lash
Of his own unaid 81 genius. FitZoicr;1ld invented
this:
Awake, for Morning in the Bowl Of Night
Has flung the Stone that puts the Stars 20
Flight:
And 10, the Hunter Of the East has caught
The Sultan's Turret in Moose Of Light"
This is improved" by MIR Ie Gallrnnc az fol
lows:
"Wakc for the sun. the shepherd Of the sky.
Has pcnncd the stars within their fold on high. |
And shaking darkness from his mighty limbs. |
Scatters the daylight from his burning eye"
Again. .FitzGcrald writes:
"Thcy say the Lion and the Lizard keep
The Courts where Jamshyd glorcd and drank
deep;
And Eahram that great Hunter the wild ASS
Stamps DER his Grave but cannot break his
Sleep"
That has been good enough for most of the
poets and critics Of our age: II has been quoted
times without number. as an example Of nobility
and music. II is not good enough for Mr.. lie
Gacnnc, who rewritcS II thus:
"rhc dove shall COO upon your castle wall.
The timOrOus lizard DER your head shall crawl |
who lies so still within this ruined grave?
Why this was Bahram. noisicst Of them aii"'
We need not pursue this tircsonc investigation |
further. In some cases Mr.. lie Gallicnne aitains
a considerable prcttncss. in others he misses |
the march and dignity Of the theme altogether. |
In every case may be thankful to know that |
he STAMPS over FtZGcrald's grave. but cannot |
break his sleep. This silly attempt to paint the |
rose and gid refined gold IL doomed to oblivion. |
from It's very birth. But what we 10 think |
Of the self knowledge. the rnoicsty. the tact Of
the rhymstcr who can bring down upon his head
such inevitable rdculc? Mr.. lie Galcnnc ~ /
understood TO love the ambulatory paragraph |
We offer the following sentence. free OF cost. to
The gossip columns or the smaller literary |
newspapers:
I'VE believe that. encouraged by the reception !
II his perverson OF FitZGcrads Omar
X hayyhr' Mr.. Richard lie Galcnnc IL actively |
engaged in rewriting IN Memoriam. The metre |
used by Tennyson will be pr";erved. Subscrip-