New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-02-25
THE ILIAD IN PROSE.
MR. SAMUEL. BUFFERS BALD RENDER
ING OF HOMER

Prose for the Use OF Those who Cannot heaa
The Original BY Samuel Butler octave PIP
wi fr Iongmans, Green x 20.
The reader Of any new translation OF Homer
Is hound to revert TO Matthew Arnold's lectures
=, Tho manner In which the poet should he
rendered into English. There are some general
statements IN those lectures which serve per
.,r,oI,v ss Invaluable touchstones. For example
Arnold insists that we must never forget that
uom.r "a rapid in his movement and noble IN
h,s manner. He saws also that the successful
.rors1ator ~ Homer will have (or he cannot
-uccaed> that true sense for his subject ana
tha, disinterested love OF 1t which are. both or
tbeno go rare in literature and so precious.
But he is constantly at pains to point out JUST
what that true sense means. He never ureS
Of reminding us that il not only means iuii
and clear perception Of the substance or eaCh
word but an exact appreciation OF It's purely
noetical significance. Abiding to the competent
reader OF Homer and to the difficulty that oiteh
confronts him In the reconciliation or SUBSTANCE
with poetic beauty. he says: "Poetically ne feels
clearly about the word, although philologicalE
he may not" Now. II is with all these ooserVa-
tons in mind. but particularly with the last
one. that we approach Mr.. Samuel huuei
prose rendering Of the Had.
menu Does he give us the nobility Of his man
ner? While we are answering these quesuoH7
with the hesitation caused by the fact that
sometimes Mr. Butler is on the verge or satls-
fving us. we are moved 70 swift and fairy
conclusive disapproval Of his work simply be-
cause II is so plain that he has not that poetcai
instinct which would triumph over his phi!o-
,ogicel learning So while cannot question
his disinterested love for his subject we are
doubtful Of his having the true sense FOR H.
We will make comparison that Mr.. Butter
has himself invited. placing IN juNtapoSlVoh
the Introductory lines in his version and In the
version prepared by Messrs. Leaf. Lang and
Myers The translation Of the latter scholars
may be given first:
Sing. goddess the wrath Of Achilles Peleuss
son the ruinOus wrath that brought on the
Achaians woes innumerabe. and hurled down
into Hades many strong souls or heroes anu
gave their bodies TO be a prey 10 dogs ana al
winged fowls: and the counsel OF Heus
wrought out its accomplishment from me Gay
when strife first parted Aueides, King OF men,
and noble Achilles.
Sing. O goddess. the anger Of Achilles. son OF
Peleus that brought countless Ills upon the
Acheans Many brave soul did it send
hurryng down 10 Hades. and many nero Ola
II yield a prey 10 dogs and vultures' for so
were the counsels Of Jove fulfilled from the day
on which the sor Of Aureus. king Of men, and
great Achilles first fell out with one another
Mr.. Buffers version having been made. as he
states on his ttle-page. for the use of those
who cannot read the original" we suppose that
II may pass muster, but only on the hypothesis
that his readers have no interest in getting
more than the bald meaning Of Homer. on the
other hand. they must turn to the earlier version
we have cited for the Homeric idiom and. above
all for the Homeric manner All through the
book we are aware Of a quality too prosaic even
for prose under the circumstances. which II II
does not actually clog the movement takes
from It its natural wings. This is tolerabe
narrative drawn from the Homeric epic. but IL
IS no fair equivalent for the poetry Of Homer.
Remembering the remarkable merits Of the
translation made by Messrs Leaf. Lang and
Myers we venture TO hope following Matthew
Arnolds famous sentence. that we may be
pardoned for confessing that we see no good
reason for Mr. Buffers translation's existing.