The
Iliad of Homer
with notes
W. G. T. Barter
London 1854
[Sample from the Opening of the Poem]
THE ILIAD
BOOK I.
I.
THE
wrath of Peleus’ son Achilles sing,
O
Goddess, wrath destructive, that did on
Th’
Achaeans woes innumerable bring,
And
many mighty souls of heroes down
To
Hades hurl untimely, themselves thrown
to
gods a prey and all the birds obscene.
But so
in sooth the will of Zeus was done,
Since
parted first in strife those chieftains twain,
Divine Achilles, and Atrides king of men.
II.
What
god them set in strife contending high?
’Twas
Zeus’ and Leto’s son. Wroth
with the king,
A
plague through th’ host he stirr’d. The
people die.
For on
priest Chryses did Atrides fling
Contempt. To
th’ Achive ships he ransoming
His
daughter came, and boundless ransom brought.
In’s
hands did far-dart Phśbus’ wreath enring
The
golden staff. He
th’ Achives all besought,
But did th’ Atrides chief, the folk’s two rulers, court:—
III.
“Ye
Atreus’ sons, Achćans buskin’d well
“That
else be here! Vouchsafe
it may to you
“The
gods that in Olympian houses dwell,
“Take
Priam’s town, and home then safe! But do
“My
child release me, ransom take, and due
“Respect
to Zeus’ son, far-dart Phśbus give.”
With
shouts all Achives else assent thereto,
The
priest to rev’rence, ransom bright receive,
But not t’ Atrides Agamemnon’s mind ’twas lieve,
IV.
But
rough dismiss’ him, adding speech severe:—
“By
th’ ships, old man, that I not catch thee see!
“Or
ling’ring now, or back returning here,
“Lest
not the staff nor god’s wreath profit thee.
“Her
loose not I till age upon her be
“In
Argos’ palace our’s, far from her land,
“Tending
the loom, my counch partaking she.
“But
go, provoke me not: so safer wend,”
He said. The
sire in fear obey’d the harsh command,
V.
And
silent pac’d of mickle sounding sea the shore.
Much
as he went the sire apart did pray.
To
King Apollo, fair tress’d Leto bore:—
“Hear,
Silver-Bow, that Chrysa guardest aye,
“And
sacred Cilla, Tenedos dost sway,
“Smintheus! If
ever temple lovely one
“I’ve
roof’d to thee, or fat thighs burnt have I
“Of
bulls or goats, this wish of mine then crown,
“That with thy darts the Danai my tears atone.”
VI.
’Twas
thus he pray’d. Phśbus
Apollo heard,
And
down Olympus’ summits wroth at heart,
And
should’ring bow and cover’d quiver skirr’d.
Rattled
the shafts on’s shoulders at each start
As
wroth he pac’d. He
went like night. Apart
From
ships then sat, an arrow shot, and high
Out-clang’d
the silver bow to freeze the heart.
Mules
first and swift dogs smote, and then let fly
Fell shaft on them. Thick
burnt the pyres funereal aye.
Review
Comment
If
it hasn’t been done already, some scholar should write a study of the
deleterious influence of Spenser on the tradition of translating Homer into
English. Such
a work might well begin by taking a close look at Barter’s rendition of Homer.
Barter pays direct homage to Spenser in his choice of verse form and diction,
and he offers an interesting and sincere, if unconvincing, defence of the
practice in his introduction (“Another advantage of this form of verse is its
compass of vocabulary, giving one the whole range of the language, receiving the
oldest gray-worn words side by side with those of the newest mint with equal
grace. An
unspeakable advantage this to a literal translation and in rhyme, by giving a
choice of sound and of syllables to a degree that is denied to the more
fastidious and modernising requirements of the couplet . . . . and never, I
trust, will the poetic feeling in this country sink so low as to deem a word
absolutely inadmissible which has the sanction of Spenser, or the ancient but
regal stamp of the father of English poets, the noble Chaucer himself”)—to
which the best reply is probably Dr. Johnson’s famous remark about Milton: “Of
him, at last, may be said what Jonson says of Spenser, that ‘he wrote no
language,’ but has formed what Butler calls ‘a Babylonish Dialect,’ in
itself harsh and barbarous, but made by exalted genius and extensive learning
the vehicle of so much instruction and so much pleasure that, like other lovers,
we find grace in its deformity.” Lacking
the “exalted genius” Johnson refers to, Barter’s style, for all its energy
and occasional felicitous phrase, presents too many deformities.
Link
to complete text (warning: very large file of 46 MB requires some time to load: Barter
Iliad)
Page loads on johnstonia web files
View Stats