第37章

ItishardlynecessarytospendmuchtimeinprovingthatMr。 Longfellow’sversionisfarsuperiortoMr。Cary’s。Itisusuallyeasyandflowing，andsaveintheoccasionaluseofviolentinversions，alwaysdignified。Sometimes，asintheepisodeofUgolino，itevenrisestosomethinglikethegrandeuroftheoriginal: “Whenhehadsaidthis，withhiseyesdistorted，Thewretchedskullresumedhewithhisteeth，Which，asadog’s，uponthebonewerestrong。“ “Quand’ebbedettocio，eongliocchitortiRipreseilteschiomiserocoidenti，Chefuroall’osso，comed’uncan，forti。“ Thatisinthegrandstyle，andsoisthefollowing，whichdescribesthosesinnerslockedinthefrozenlakebelowMalebolge:—— “Weepingitselftheredoesnotletthemweep，AndgriefthatfindsabarrierintheeyesTurnsitselfinwardtoincreasetheanguish。 “Lopiantostessolipiangernonlascia，Eilduol，chetrovainsugliocchirintoppo，Sivolveinentroafarcrescerl’ambascia。“ Andtheexclamationofoneofthesepoor“wretchesofthefrozencrust“isanexclamationthatShakespearemighthavewritten:—— “Liftfrommineeyestherigidveils，thatI Mayventthesorrowwhichimpregnsmyheart。“ “Levatemidalvisoiduriveli，Sich’iosfoghiildolorcheilcorm’impregna。“ ThereisnothinginMr。Cary’stranslationwhichcanstandacomparisonwiththat。Theeighteenthcenturycouldnottranslatelikethat。Forhereatlastwehavearealreproductionoftheantique。IntheShakespearianringoftheselineswerecognizetheauthenticrenderingofthetonesoftheonlymansincetheChristianerawhocouldspeaklikeShakespeare。 InthiswayMr。Longfellow’stranslationis，toaneminentdegree，realistic。Itisaworkconceivedandexecutedinentireaccordancewiththespiritofourtime。Mr。Longfellowhassetaboutmakingareconstructivetranslation，andhehassucceededintheattempt。Inviewofwhathehasdone，noonecaneverwishtoseetheoldmethodsofPopeandCaryagainresortedto。Itisonlywherehefailstobetrulyrealisticthathecomesshortofsuccess。And，asalreadyhinted，itisoftenestthroughsheerexcessofLITERALISMthatheceasestoberealistic，anddepartsfromthespiritofhisauthorinsteadofcomingnearertoit。Inthe“Paradiso，“CantoX。1-6，hismethodleadshimintoawkwardness:—— “LookingintoHisSonwithalltheloveWhicheachofthemeternallybreathesforth，TheprimalandunutterablePowerWhate’erbeforethemindoreyerevolvesWithsomuchordermade，therecanbenoneWhothisbeholdswithoutenjoyingHim。“ Thisseemsclumsyandhalting，yetitisanextremelyliteralparaphraseofagracefulandflowingoriginal:—— “Guardandonelsuofiglioconl’amoreChel’unoel’altroeternalmentespire，LoprimoedineffabileValore，QuantopermenteoperlocosigiraContantoordinefe’，ch’essernonpuoteSenzagustardiluiehiciorimira“ Nowtoturnagracefulandflowingsentenceintoonethatisclumsyandhaltingiscertainlynottoreproduceit，nomatterhowexactlytheseparatewordsarerendered，orhowcloselythesyntacticconstructionsmatcheachother。Andthisconsiderationseemsconclusiveasagainsttheadequacyoftheliteralistmethod。Thatmethodisinadequate，notbecauseitistooREALISTIC，butbecauseitrunscontinualriskofbeingtooVERBALISTIC。IthasrecentlybeenappliedtothetranslationofDantebyMr。Rossetti，andithassometimesledhimtowritecuriousverses。Forinstance，hemakesFrancescasaytoDante，—— “OgraciousandbenignantANIMAL！“ for“Oanimalgraziosoebenigno！“ Mr。Longfellow’sgoodtastehaspreventedhisdoinganythinglikethis，yetMr。Rossetti’sextravaganceisduetoanunswervingadherencetotheveryrulesbywhichMr。Longfellowhasbeenguided。 Goodtasteandpoeticgeniusare，however，betterthanthebestofrules，andso，afterallsaidanddone，wecanonlyconcludethatMr。Longfellowhasgivenusagreatandnobleworknotlikelysoontobeequalled。Leopardisomewhere，inspeakingoftheearlyItaliantranslatorsoftheclassicsandtheirwell-earnedpopularity，says，whoknowsbutCarowillliveinmen’sremembranceaslongasVirgil？“Labeliedestinee，“addsSainte-Beuve，“denepouvoirplusmourir，sinonavecunimmortel！“ApartfromMr。Longfellow’sothertitlestoundyingfame，suchadestinyissurelymarkedoutforhim，andthroughouttheEnglishportionsoftheworldhisnamewillalwaysbeassociatedwiththatofthegreatFlorentine。 Formusic-loversinAmericathegreateventoftheseasonhasbeentheperformanceofMr。Paine’soratorio，“St。Peter，“atPortland，June3。Thiseventisimportant，notonlyasthefirstappearanceofanAmericanoratorio，butalsoasthefirstdirectproofwehavehadoftheexistenceofcreativemusicalgeniusinthiscountry。ForMr。Paine’sMassinD——aworkwhichwasbroughtoutwithgreatsuccessseveralyearsagoinBerlin——has，forsomereasonorother，neverbeenperformedhere。And，withtheexceptionofMr。Paine，weknowofnoAmericanhithertowhohasshowneitherthegeniusortheculturerequisiteforwritingmusicinthegrandstyle，althoughthereissomeoftheKapellmeistermusic，writtenbyourleadingorganistsandchoristers，whichdeserveshonourablemention。Concerningtheranklikelytobeassignedbyposterityto“St。Peter，“itwouldbefoolishnowtospeculate；anditwouldbeequallyunwisetobringitintodirectcomparisonwithmasterpieceslikethe“Messiah，““Elijah，“and“St。Paul，“thegreatnessofwhichhasbeensolongacknowledged。Longerfamiliaritywiththeworkisneededbeforesuchcomparisons，alwaysofsomewhatdoubtfulvalue，canbeprofitablyundertaken。Butitmustatleastbesaid，asthenetresultofourimpressionsderivedbothfrompreviousstudyofthescoreandfromhearing，theperformanceatPortland，thatMr。Paine’soratoriohasfairlyearnedforitselftherighttobejudgedbythesamehighstandardwhichweapplytothesenobleworksofMendelssohnandHandel。 Inourlimitedspacewecangiveonlythebriefestdescriptionofthegeneralstructureofthework。ThefoundingofChristianity，asillustratedinfourprincipalscenesofthelifeofSt。Peter，suppliesthematerialforthedramaticdevelopmentofthesubject。Theoverture，beginningwithanadagiomovementinB-flatminor，givesexpressiontothevagueyearningsofthattimeofdoubtandhesitancywhenthe“oraclesweredumb，“andthedawningofaneweraofstrongeranddivinerfaithwasmatterofpresentimentratherthanofdefinitehopeorexpectation。Thoughthetonalityisatfirstfirmlyestablished，yetasthemovementbecomesmoreagitated，thefinaltendencyofthemodulationsalsobecomesuncertain，andforafewbarsitwouldseemasifthekeyofF-sharpminormightbethepointofdestination。Butafterashortmelodybythewindinstruments，accompaniedbyarapidupwardmovementofstrings，thedominantchordofCmajorassertsitself，beingrepeated，withsundryinversions，throughadozenbars，andleadingdirectlyintothetriumphantandmajesticchorus，“Thetimeisfulfilled，andthekingdomofheavenisathand。“Thesecondsubject，introducedbytheword“repent“ descendingthroughtheintervalofadiminishedseventhandcontrastedwiththefloridcounterpointofthephrase，“andbelievethegladtidingsofGod，“isamasterpieceofcontrapuntalwriting，and，ifperformedbyachoirofthreeorfourhundredvoices，wouldproduceanoverpoweringeffect。ThedivinecallofSimonPeterandhisbrethrenisnextdescribedinatenorrecitative；andtheacceptanceofthegladtidingsisexpressedinanaria，“ThespiritoftheLordisuponme，“which，byanoriginalbutappropriateconception，isgiventothesopranovoice。Inthenextnumber，thedisciplesaredramaticallyrepresentedbytwelvebassesandtenors，singinginfour-partharmony，andalternatingorcombiningwiththefullchorusindescriptionoftheaimsofthenewreligion。Thepoemendswiththechoral，“HowlovelyshinestheMorningStar！“ThenfollowsthesublimescenefromMatthewxvi。14-18，wherePeterdeclareshismastertobe“theChrist，theSonofthelivingGod，“——oneofthemostimpressivescenes，wehavealwaysthought，inthegospelhistory，andherenotinadequatelytreated。ThefeelingofmysteriousandawfulgrandeurawakenedbyPeter’sboldexclamation，“ThouarttheChrist，“ispowerfullyrenderedbytheentranceofthetrombonesupontheinvertedsubdominanttriadofC-sharpminor，andtheirpauseuponthedominantofthesamekey。 ThroughoutthisscenethecharacteristiccontrastbetweentheardentvigourofPeterandthesweetserenityofJesusiswelldelineatedinthemusic。AfterPeter’sstirringaria，“Myheartisglad，“thedramaticclimaxisreachedintheC-majorchorus，“TheChurchisbuiltuponthefoundationoftheapostlesandprophets。“ Thesecondsceneiscarriedouttosomewhatgreaterlength，correspondingnearlytothelasthalfofthefirstpartof“Elijah，“fromthepointwherethechallengeisgiventotheprophetsofBaal。Intheopeningpassagesofmingledrecitativeandarioso，PeterisforewarnedthatheshalldenyhisMaster，andhishalf-indignantremonstranceissustained，withaddedemphasis，bythevoicesofthetwelvedisciples，pitchedafourthhigher。ThenJudascomes，withagreatmultitude，andJesusiscarriedbeforethehigh-priest。ThebeautifulF-minorchorus，“Wehidourfacesfromhim，“furnishesthemusicalcommentuponthestatementthat“thedisciplesallforsookhimandfled。“Wehardlydaretogivefullexpressiontoourfeelingsaboutthischorus(whichduringthepastmonthhasbeencontinuallysingingitselfoverandoveragaininourrecollection)，lestitshouldbesupposedthatourenthusiasmhasgotthebetterofoursoberjudgment。Thesecondtheme，“Hewasbroughtasalambtotheslaughter，yetheopenednothismouth，“isquiteHandel-likeinthesimplicityandmassivenessofitsmagnificentharmonicprogressions。Withthesceneofthedenial，forwhichwearethusprepared，thedramaticmovementbecomesexceedinglyrapid，andtherenderingoftheeventsinthehigh-priest’shall——Peter’sbassrecitativealternatingitscravenprotestationswiththeclamorousagitatochorusoftheservants——isstirringintheextreme。ThecontraltoariadescribingtheLord’sturningandlookinguponPeterisfollowedbytheorchestrawithalamentinB-flatminor，introducingthebassariaoftherepentantandremorse-strickendisciple，“OGod，myGod，forsakemenot。“Asthelaststrainsofthelamentationdieaway，achoirofangelsisheard，ofsopranosandcontraltosdivided，singing，“Rememberfromwhencethouartfallen，“toanaccompanimentofharps。Thesecondtheme，“Hethatovercomethshallreceiveacrownoflife，“