THE GREEK ANTHOLOGY'

A Nsw verse translation of selections from the Greek An- thology is bound to raise many expectations or, perhaps, even suspicions. It is pleasant to be able to feel convinced that it is the former rather than the latter that Mr. J. A. Pott has satisfied. To undertake any verse translation requires no little courage, but to master the difficulties of rendering a Greek • Greek Love BOP and Epigrams from the A:W.4m. Translated by J. A. Pott. London: Kogan Paul, Trench. Trabner and Co. [a. 6d. net.] epigram is often, as those who have attempted the task will realize better than any, a forlorn hope. The difficulties which lie in the way of the translator are twofold. If he translates too literally he will almost certainly produce some- thing in very stilted and awkward English. On the other hand, if he paraphrases he must of necessity depart somewhat widely from the original. It is, however, surely the reasonable view that, as one language or the other has to be more or leas sacrificed, that language from which the translation is made —in this case the Greek—should be immolated on the altar of metrical necessity. This is what Mr. Pott has done, and we be- lieve his system is the right one. The other difficulty, which is far more considerable, is to preserve something of the pungency, the brevity, and the condensation of the original Greek, whilst at the same time bearing in mind the Horatian warning (" brevis esse laboro, obscurus fio ") that in endeavouring to condense one must be careful not to fall into obscurity. There is not much temptation to run into this latter extreme, but there is a considerable temptation to be unduly diffuse, all the more so because the greater the latitude which is allowed in this respect the easier becomes the work of the translator. In some cases it must be admitted that Mr. Pott has gone to some lengths in the direction of licence in diffuseness. Take, for instance, the exquisite epigram of Dionysius, of which he gives a version on page 51. The literal translation of the Greek, as given by Professor Mackail, is as follows : " You with the roses, you are fair as a rose ; but what sell you P yourself, or your roses, or both together P" For the sake of the comparison we give Mr. Pott's rendering of the same

lines :—

" Which roses do you offer me,

These on your cheek, or those beside you ?

Since both are passing fair to see,

Which roses do you offer me ?

To give me both would you agree, Or must I choose, and so divide you ?

Which roses do you offer me, These on your cheek, or those beside you ?"

The translation is certainly felicitous, the triolet form (which Mr. Pott uses several times, as well as some of the other old French forms) being particularly charming; but at the same time what Dionysius conveyed in two lines is expanded by Mr. Pott into eight. It may be objected that this was im- perative if any translation were to be made at all, and perhaps the answer is a good one. Still, the fact of the extension has to be noted. Another instance is the translation of the Marcus Argentarius epigram on page 96, expanded from four lines to twelve, or, again, the two-lined epigram of Strato (page 9S) on the theme of " Gather ye rosebuds." Professor Mackail's prose version runs thus : "If beauty grows old, share it before it be gone; and if it abides, why fear to give away what thou dost keep ? " The idea is expanded by Mr.

Pott

"If your beauty must wane, Now's the season to share it ; For to hoard it were vain If your beauty must wane. If it last, then again

It were churlish to spare it; If your beauty must wane, Now's the season to share it."

It is interesting to compare with this the briefer and conse- quently more satisfactory translation given by Lord Cromer among his privately printed renderings :-

"If beauty dies, then yield a share Before it fades for evermore. But if it lasts, my love, forbear To treasure up an endless store."

On the other hand, in dealing with an epigram of Anyte, entitled " The Leveller" (page 24), Mr. Pott attains to what we cannot but consider the desired brevity, although the genitive case of Darius makes the second line scan a little

awkwardly :— "He that in life was but a Persian slave Is great Darius' equal in the grave."

The idea of this epigram is also represented in the very beautiful lines by Damascius (page 134), which Mr. Pott translates :—

" 0 Zosima, your soul was ever free,

And now your body too hath liberty."

Here the translator keeps within the two lines of the original author, but he, perhaps, becomes a little obscure, because he fails to bring out clearly the main point of the epigram, namely, that Zosima (or Zosime, as the Greek gives it) was a slave. But we have said enough to illustrate the characteristic features of these translations. They remain, on the whole, in spite of the difficulties which they sometimes fail to surmount, distinctly felicitous achievements.