Parodies of the works of English & American authors, vol. V
General
Parodies of the works of English & American authors, vol. V
Parodies
_French Versions._
M. J. de Chenier. _Paris._ 1805.
J. Roberts. _London._ 1875.
Madame Necker.
Adrien Sarrasin.
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_Russian Version._
Joukovsky. _Moscow._ 1802.
_Italian Versions._
M. Cesarotti. _Padua._ 1772.
J. Giannini. _London._ 1782.
G. Torelli. _Parma._ 1793.
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_Phonographic Version._
Corresponding style. Interlinear translation.
_London._ F. Pitman. (About 1866.)
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In the Library of the British Museum there is a volume entitled:
“ELEGIA di Tommaso Gray, sopra un cimitero di Campagna, tradotta dall’
Inglese in piu lingue con aggiunta di varie cose finora inedite per
cura dell dottore _Alessandro Torri_. Veronese. Livorno Tipografia
Migliaresi. 1843. This contains the original Elegy in English,
followed by twelve Italian translations in different metres, five in
Latin, one in Hebrew, six in French, one in German prose by William
Mason, and three in German verse, or twenty-eight translations in all,
and it mentions others which are not included. There are also copious
notes, and a biography of Thomas Gray. The press mark in the B. M.
Library of this very curious volume is 1465 K.
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In 1839, a Polyglott edition of Gray’s Elegy was published by Mr. John
Van Voorst, of Paternoster Row, London. This charming little volume
contains some of the finest specimens of modern wood engraving, in
which the artists have admirably succeeded in realising the spirit of
the poem. The text consists of the original poem, with Greek, Latin,
German, French, and Italian translations. The Greek translation was by
Thomas J. Mathias, author of “The Pursuits of Literature,” the Latin
by Rev. William Hildyard, the Italian by Guiseppe Torelli, and the
German by F. G. Gotter. The French version is ascribed to M. Le
Fourneur, whose verses are of very unequal merit; in a few cases he
compresses the sense of a verse into two lines, in others he spreads
it over six lines, whilst some of Gray’s most poetical ideas and
images are entirely omitted.
The second verse:――
Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight,
And all the air a solemn stillness holds,
Save where the Beetle wheels his droning flight,
And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds.
he renders
“Du soleil expirant la tremblante lumière
Délaisse par degrés les monts silencieux;
Un calme solennel enveloppe les cieux.”
thus altogether losing the beautiful description contained in the last
two lines of the original.
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Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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