Graham's Magazine, Vol. XX, No. 4, April 1842Various
General
Graham's Magazine, Vol. XX, No. 4, April 1842
Various
Literature -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals
Of the translations we scarcely think it necessary to speak at all. We
regret that our poet will persist in busying himself about such matters.
_His_ time might be better employed in original conception. Most of
these versions are marked with the error upon which we have commented.
This error is in fact, essentially Germanic. “The Luck of Edenhall,”
however, is a truly beautiful poem; and we say this with all that
deference which the opinion of the “Democratic Review” demands. This
composition appears to us _one of the very finest_. It has all the free,
hearty, _obvious_ movement of the true ballad-legend. The greatest force
of language is combined in it with the richest imagination, acting in
its most legitimate province. Upon the whole, we prefer it even to the
“Sword-Song” of Körner. The pointed moral with which it terminates is so
exceedingly natural—so perfectly fluent from the incidents—that we
have hardly heart to pronounce it in ill taste. We may observe of this
ballad, in conclusion, that its subject is more _physical_ than is usual
in Germany. Its images are rich rather in physical than in moral beauty.
And this tendency, in Song, is the true one. It is chiefly, if we are
not mistaken—it is chiefly amid forms of physical loveliness (we use
the word _forms_ in its widest sense as embracing modifications of sound
and color) that the soul seeks the realization of its dreams of Beauty.
It is to her demand in this sense especially, that the poet, who is
wise, will most frequently and most earnestly respond.
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