And, for the same reason, he has not confined himself to
the Portuguese or Spanish pronunciation of proper names.
the Portuguese or Spanish pronunciation of proper names.
Camoes - Lusiades
8, st.
95)--
_Meaning a better penny thence to get. _
But enough of these have already appeared in the notes. It may be
necessary to add, that the version of Fanshaw, though the Lusiad very
particularly requires them, was given to the public without one note.
[22] Some liberties of a less poetical kind, however, require to be
mentioned. In Homer and Virgil's lists of slain warriors, Dryden and
Pope have omitted several names which would have rendered English
versification dull and tiresome. Several allusions to ancient history
and fable have for this reason been abridged; e. g. in the prayer of GAMA
(Book 6) the mention of Paul, "thou who deliveredst Paul and defendest
him from quicksands and wild waves--
_Das scyrtes arenosas e ondas feas_--"
is omitted. However excellent in the original, the prayer in English
would lose both its dignity and ardour. Nor let the critic, if he find
the meaning of Camoens in some instances altered, imagine that he has
found a blunder in the translator. He who chooses to see a slight
alteration of this kind will find an instance, which will give him an
idea of others, in Canto 8, st. 48, and another in Canto 7, st. 41. It
was not to gratify the dull few, whose greatest pleasure in reading a
translation is to see what the author exactly says; it was to give a
poem that might live in the English language, which was the ambition of
the translator.
And, for the same reason, he has not confined himself to
the Portuguese or Spanish pronunciation of proper names. Regardless,
therefore, of Spanish pronunciation, the translator has accented
Granada, Evora, etc. in the manner which seemed to him to give most
dignity to English versification. In the word Sofala he has even
rejected the authority of Milton, and followed the more sonorous usage
of Fanshaw. Thus Sir Richard: "Against Sofala's batter'd fort. " Which is
the more sonorous there can be no dispute.
[23] Judges xviii. 7, 9, 27, 28.
[24] This ferocity of savage manners affords a philosophical account how
the most distant and inhospitable climes were first peopled. When a
Romulus erects a monarchy and makes war on his neighbours, some
naturally fly to the wilds. As their families increase, the stronger
commit depredations on the weaker; and thus from generation to
generation, they who either dread just punishment or unjust oppression,
fly farther and farther in search of that protection which is only to be
found in civilized society.
[25] The author of that voluminous work, _Histoire Philosophique et
Politique des Etablissements et du Commerce des Europeens dans les deux
Indes_, is one of the many who assert that savage life is happier than
civil. His reasons are thus abridged: The savage has no care or fear for
the future; his hunting and fishing give him a certain subsistence. He
sleeps sound, and knows not the diseases of cities. He cannot want what
he does not desire, nor desire that which he does not know, and vexation
or grief do not enter his soul. He is not under the control of a
superior in his actions; in a word, says our author, the savage only
suffers the evils of nature.
_Meaning a better penny thence to get. _
But enough of these have already appeared in the notes. It may be
necessary to add, that the version of Fanshaw, though the Lusiad very
particularly requires them, was given to the public without one note.
[22] Some liberties of a less poetical kind, however, require to be
mentioned. In Homer and Virgil's lists of slain warriors, Dryden and
Pope have omitted several names which would have rendered English
versification dull and tiresome. Several allusions to ancient history
and fable have for this reason been abridged; e. g. in the prayer of GAMA
(Book 6) the mention of Paul, "thou who deliveredst Paul and defendest
him from quicksands and wild waves--
_Das scyrtes arenosas e ondas feas_--"
is omitted. However excellent in the original, the prayer in English
would lose both its dignity and ardour. Nor let the critic, if he find
the meaning of Camoens in some instances altered, imagine that he has
found a blunder in the translator. He who chooses to see a slight
alteration of this kind will find an instance, which will give him an
idea of others, in Canto 8, st. 48, and another in Canto 7, st. 41. It
was not to gratify the dull few, whose greatest pleasure in reading a
translation is to see what the author exactly says; it was to give a
poem that might live in the English language, which was the ambition of
the translator.
And, for the same reason, he has not confined himself to
the Portuguese or Spanish pronunciation of proper names. Regardless,
therefore, of Spanish pronunciation, the translator has accented
Granada, Evora, etc. in the manner which seemed to him to give most
dignity to English versification. In the word Sofala he has even
rejected the authority of Milton, and followed the more sonorous usage
of Fanshaw. Thus Sir Richard: "Against Sofala's batter'd fort. " Which is
the more sonorous there can be no dispute.
[23] Judges xviii. 7, 9, 27, 28.
[24] This ferocity of savage manners affords a philosophical account how
the most distant and inhospitable climes were first peopled. When a
Romulus erects a monarchy and makes war on his neighbours, some
naturally fly to the wilds. As their families increase, the stronger
commit depredations on the weaker; and thus from generation to
generation, they who either dread just punishment or unjust oppression,
fly farther and farther in search of that protection which is only to be
found in civilized society.
[25] The author of that voluminous work, _Histoire Philosophique et
Politique des Etablissements et du Commerce des Europeens dans les deux
Indes_, is one of the many who assert that savage life is happier than
civil. His reasons are thus abridged: The savage has no care or fear for
the future; his hunting and fishing give him a certain subsistence. He
sleeps sound, and knows not the diseases of cities. He cannot want what
he does not desire, nor desire that which he does not know, and vexation
or grief do not enter his soul. He is not under the control of a
superior in his actions; in a word, says our author, the savage only
suffers the evils of nature.
