New-York tribune., 1899-12-30
ENGLISH AND LATIN.
AN ANTHOLOGY OF ORIGINALS AND
TRANsLATIONs.


A mighty unison OF streams!
OF all her Voices One'
rhts stanza is Wordsworth. the very essence
n, Wordsworth Now there are many Perleo''S
rational people who in their honest hearts nav
doubtless wondered why other good anu
,iora, neonIe have made so much Of this WORDS
,.or,b with his Loud Is the Vale" and similar
things Let them consider this:
II tota de vale fragor;-talem edere vocem'
ut tempestates demutuere. solet;
r-ndinue turbaU miscen cOncOrdla rlNl
'N'Su purmura ~multiplici vox sonat una choro
This Is a paraphrase made by one OF the TWO
,o,,, oditors Of this book 1t Is coed. musical
eIeeiac verse 1t alleges about the Vale all that
tho original stanza alleges. There is not the
least doubt that Loud Is the Vale" means what
Mr. Stone makes II mean. u wit. 1T tota de
valle fragor"-"A crashing noise goes out or bhe
Vale" But the Wordsworth Of 1t means the
same thing infinitely more than Mr.. stone
Latin; and that. not because OF any techihca'
shortcomng OF the translator but because mere
Wordsworth and English are mighter thah
latin and the scholar The second stanza also
beginning Loud is the Vale and ending
Yon star upon the mountain top.
Is listening quietly
and for that matter the whole poem. tempts
one to further discussion. This was all essay
I'm Latin verse making for which Mr stone
should have had the Victoria Cross. But bid
ding Wordsworth get him behind us. and take
Mr. Stone with him. we pass on to this on
page 12I
When Britain first at Heavens command
Arose from out the azure main.
This was the charter of the land.
And guardian angels sung the strain:
Rule Britannia. rule the waves
Britons never will he slaves
Thomson. who wrote these lines was no fell
low to Wordsworth. it is true; but he did good
work. and this stanza Of British national an
them is of his best. Here is the translation oy
Mr. William Charles Green:
Anglia cum primum divinis insula iussis
Cpruleo COLES extulit orta mari.
Hac data condcio est; natalia carmna terr@
Nereidum leti sic cecinere chori
"Anglia tn huctus regito. prolemque foveto
Nunquam servili cola premenda lugo'
Tn this the ideas are all Thomson's, excepting
the expedent heather perversion OF guardian
angels" into Joyous bands OF Nereids, and
few metrically justifable verbal fourishes But
as a national anthem which should be grahdi-
ose thing the Latin is by sheer force orerotund
resonancy. almost as superior to the orlgihai as
Virgirs .Parcere subjects ct debelare superb
os' is to Aubrey de Vere's version TO spare 'ne
suppIiant and lay low the proud"
illustrate the literary utility of collection OF
Latin versifcations There was time when
no apology was thought necessary for publish
ing a good piece OF work in this kind. Mr..
Thackeray who signs the preface. disdains 10
spologize even in these days. He says: The
number Of recent similar publications and even
Of the contributors TO the present selection. Is
an indication that the culture OF this branch OF
classical study is not yet defunct." Mr. Lytte-
toms question: Are we to go on with Latin
verses" he simply mentions to dismiss. In
England where Latin verses are still semi
obligatory study at institutions In which the
public at large have some vested rights Mr.
Lyttleton's question may be In order; here one
might as we'll ask in published discussion OF
educational topics. Are we to go on with the
yioln?" The student takes his choice, whether
as TO violin lessons or Latin verse. being gov
erned by his natural aptitudes. AS Mr.. stone
says in his pretty predatory elegiacs. "Expedi-
stne parum euro Hoe scio. iucundus
labor est" Some people still find a "jocund
labor" in verse making, others in violin scrap
ing.
One very interesting thing about this collec-
tion of 1S4 pieces Of nineteenth century Latin
verse is the numerical predominance OF Cam
bridge men among the thirty-eight translators
represented.
several generations, one Of the most successful
modern anthologies' of Greek and Latin verse
IN existence. "Corolla Sabrine." a famous col
lection made from the classical verse essays OF
old Shrewsbury boys. has more Of Cambridge
in It than Of oxford. Among the thirty-eight
contributors to this "Florilegium," there are
twenty-three Cantabs, seven Dublin men. and
only seven Oxonians One-Professor Tyrrell-
is set down to both Dublin and Cambridge The
two editors are both assistant masters at Elton.
one former fellow OF Kings Cambridge, the
other Of Lincoln (Oxford) Many OF the verses
were no doubt made when their authors were
much younger. but the proportion Of Cambridge
work probably still represents the greater In
terest taken in the minute eegancies OF schol-
arship at the university which. at the same
time has the reputation of being more espe-
cially devoted to the MUSES. OF the Cube and
Sauare" Considering its numbers, Oxford is
here far behind Dublin-"Our Silent Sister
which has, moreover. the distinction OF owning
a share in Professor Tyrrell. For though. in
respect to the quality OF the performances 1t
would be both presumptuous and Improbable
TO attempt to treat the "Floriegium" as an In
ter university competition in verse making still
there is no harm in venturng opinion that
while Jury Of experts might be inclined to
award Mr.. Rouse, OF Rugby. the PALM Profes
sor Tyrrell's contributions give more poetica
pleasure than any OF the others AS a rule
where masterpieces OF English. Greek. German
French and Italian are taken as subjects. the
translations make pretence Of approaching
the merit Of their originals. But in his render
ing Of Hoods Bridge Of Sighs," Professor Tyr
rell almost seems to have surpassed his mode
in the melody and suggestive power OF hi
rhymed verse
Mad from lifes history.
Glad to deaths mystery
Swift to be hurled
Anywhere. anywhere.
Out OF the world.
II rendered as follows
Mundi amari,
Usu insana.