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Poems and Ballads, Tr. by W.e. Aytoun and T. Martin
Poems and Ballads Tr by We Aytoun and T Martin Author:Johann Wolfgang von Goethe General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1859 Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million book... more »s for free. Excerpt: POEMS IN THE MANNER OF THE ANTIQUE. The short poems, of which the following are translations, were composed by Goethe at different periods, and finally collected and arranged under the above title. They bear a strong resemblance to the better portion of the Greek Anthology, so far as regards the compression and delicate nature of the thoughts, and also the extreme felicity of the language. In the original German they are cast in the ancient hexameter and pentameter, which no doubt enhances the resemblance, and which the translators would have adopted, but from a sincere conviction that these metres are unsuited to the genius of the English speech. Upon this subject there has been a good deal of controversy, from the days of Southey downwards; and many ingenious attempts have been made to prove that it is possible, by care and dexterity, to construct a good English poem in the classical form. Without denying the possibility (which it would be hazardous to do in the face of such an example as Mr Longfellow's " Evange- line"), the translators nevertheless maintain their opinion that such versification is entirely exotic, and not calculated either to make the same impression or to give the same pleasure as a skilful use of the standard English metres, of which there is a sufficient variety for every phonetic purpose. They have, therefore, in the rendering of this section of Goethe'spoetry, departed from their general rule of adhering as closely as may be to the form of the originals; and they venture to think that, by doing so, they have made a nearer approximation to the spirit of these really beautiful...« less