The Aeneid of Virgil | Page 4

when the guests are gone and in her turn?The wan moon pales her light, and waning stars?Persuade to sleep, she in her empty halls?Mourns all alone, and throws herself along?The couch where he had lain: though he be gone?Far from her side, she hears and sees him still.'
Of the merits of the present translation the reader will judge for himself; but it may perhaps be said of the usual objections urged against the Spenserian stanza--that it is cumbrous and monotonous, and presents difficulties of construction--that the two former criticisms will be just or the reverse, according to the skill of the writer, while it is quite possible that the last is really an advantage, for the intricate machinery imposes a restraint on careless or hasty composition. And finally we must turn a deaf ear, even to so high an authority as Matthew Arnold, when he says that it is not suited to the grand manner. When he said this he cannot have remembered either the lament of Florimell in the _Faerie Queene_ or the conclusion of _Childe Harold_.
J. P. MAINE.
Edward Fairfax Taylor, whose translation of the _Aeneid_ is now published, was descended from the Taylors of Norwich, a family well known for their culture and intellectual gifts. He was the only son of John Edward Taylor, himself an accomplished German and Italian scholar, and the first translator of the _Pentamerone_ into English, who lived at Weybridge near his aunt, Mrs. Sarah Austin. Brought up among books, young Taylor early showed an intense love for classical literature, and soon after going to Marlborough he began the present translation as a boy of sixteen. His admiration for Spenser led him to adopt the Spenserian stanza, and in the preface to his translation of the first two books he gives detailed reasons for considering it peculiarly well adapted for the _Aeneid_. He was a favourite pupil of the late Dr. Bradley, Dean of Westminster, at that time headmaster of Marlborough, and who much wished that he should follow in the footsteps of 'that brilliant band of Marlborough men,' as they have been called, who at that time, year after year, gained the Balliol scholarship. But circumstances made him decide otherwise, and in 1865 he passed the necessary examination for a clerkship in the House of Lords. The long vacations gave him time to continue this labour of love, and in the intervals of much other literary work, and in spite of ill health, he completed the translation of the twelve books of the _Aeneid_. He looked forward to re-editing it and bringing it out when he should have retired from his work in the House of Lords, but this day never came, and he died from heart disease in January 1902. His was a singularly charming disposition, and he was beloved by all who knew him; while the courage and patience with which he bore ever-increasing suffering, and the stoicism he showed in fulfilling his duties in the House of Lords, have left a deep impression on all his friends.
L. M.
The _Edisso Princeps_, of Virgil is that printed at Rome by Sweynham and Pannartz. It was not dated, but it is almost certain that it was printed before the Venice folio edition of V. de Spira, which was issued in 1470. The best modern critical editions of the text are those of Ribbeck (4 vols. 1895) and F. A. Hirtzel (_Scriptorum Classicorum Bibliotheca Oxoniensis_, 1900). Of the editions containing explanatory notes, that of Conington and Nettleship, revised by Haverfield, is the standard English commentary. That of A. Sidgwick (2 vols. Cambridge) is more elementary, but will be found valuable. Those of Kennedy (London, 1879) and of Papillon and Haigh (Oxford, 2 vols. 1890-91) may also be referred to.
Virgil was first introduced to English readers by William Caxton in 1490. But his _Eneydos_ was based, not on the _Aeneid_ itself, but on a French paraphrase, the _liure des eneydes_, printed at Lyons in 1483.
The best modern prose translations are those of Mackail (London, 1885) and Conington (London, 1870).
The following is a list of the more important verse translations of the _Aeneid_ which have appeared. The name of the translator, and the date at which his translation appeared, are given:--Gawin Douglas, 1553 (see Introduction, p. xi); Henry, Earl of Surrey, 1557 (Books II. and IV. only); J. Dryden, 1697; C. R. Kennedy, 1861; J. Conington, 1866; W. Morris, 1876; W. J. Thornhill, 1886; Sir Charles Bowen, 1887 (Books I.-VI. only); J. Rhoades, 1893 (Books I.-VI. only); Sir Theodore Martin, 1896 (Books I.-VI. only); T. H. D. May, 1903; E. Fairfax Taylor, 1903.
Students of Virgil would also do well to consult Sellar, _Poets of the Augustan Age_ (Oxford, 1883), and Nettleship, _Introduction to the Study of Vergil_.
THE AENEID OF VIRGIL
BOOK ONE
ARGUMENT
Fate sends AEneas to Latium to