Part 2
Finally we must mention the caesura after the end of the fourth measure, which is not uncommon in bucolic poetry, picturing the peaceful life of the ancient Greek cowboys, so different from the cowboys of the American Wild West, and it has therefore received the name, “bucolic caesura.” It is rare in heroic poems; nevertheless it occurs sometimes and its occasional appearance is effective, for the combination of one dactyl with one trochee (–◡◡–◡) gives a euphonious ring to the verse.
The heroic hexameter is best known to the English-reading public from Longfellow’s _Evangeline_. It has not been a favorite with them mainly because of the awkwardness with which it has been handled and the boldness with which short syllables are frequently used to serve as long syllables. We may say that at present the German language has proved itself most apt in reproducing this classical measure, in which, however, the long syllable (_arsis_) is to be replaced by a decidedly accented syllable, while the place of a short syllable (_thesis_) is taken by an unaccented syllable. This makes it possible that the same word may, according to position, in one place serve as a short, in another as a long, syllable, while the prosody of the classical languages is more severe. There a syllable is either long or short, and a short syllable can only become long through subsequent consonants, which is called “length through position.”
We have to recognize the fact that Teutonic languages are qualitative while the classic languages are quantitative. This means that in the former the accent of the word is predominant and wrong accents render a word positively unintelligible, while in the latter the word-accent is of less account. It is of little consequence in English whether we pronounce “ĕgg” or “aigg,” but it makes a decided difference whether we say “in′fidel” or “infi′del.” In modern French however, we may pronounce with propriety either “_la mai′son_” or “_la maison′_”. And this character of the Teutonic languages which renders quality of accent so prominent in speech is the reason why they tend to brevity, for they contract words more and more until, as is the case in English, most of their forms are reduced to monosyllables. Thus the Gothic word _habededian_ is contracted in Middle German into _habete_, (viz., _haben_--_tat_ = “I did have”), in modern German into _hatte_, and in English into “had.” The Teutonic languages neglect the unimportant and unaccented portions of the word, and wherever they can be disposed of drop them entirely or fuse them into the main syllable.
Another reason why the hexameter is not liked in English is on account of the length of the verse. If the reader has first to search for the caesura, for the place where he can take breath, he feels discouraged at the long line that stretches before him like a road through the desert, and for this reason we deem it an improvement to print dactylic verses so as to begin a new line with the caesura. It renders the reading of the line easier in the measure, as the break in the verse is thus most easily taken in by the eye.
* * * * *
Since we have been discussing metrical details at some length, we may be permitted to add a few comments on the iambic trimeter which in English is really nothing else but what is commonly known as blank verse. This verse is very generally misunderstood and we have nowhere seen it properly explained in English books on prosody.
The blank verse is the most common and best adapted form for dignified speech in both the dialogue and the monologue of the drama. We quote as a typical verse the first line of Hamlet’s soliloquy:
“To be or not to be, that is the question.”
The meter is a catalectic iambic trimeter and there is only one rule of importance, viz., that at the beginning and after caesuras an iambus ◡– can be replaced by a trochee metric: –◡. A scheme of the meter runs thus:
◡–◡–|◡–◡–|◡–◡||
Or in musical script thus:
[Music]
The last long syllable, sometimes even the whole last foot, is omitted or, more correctly, is replaced by a pause. We may write it thus:
[Music]
This latter case, originally merely allowable, has become very frequent in English, because the English language is rich in monosyllables so as to make it sometimes difficult to end the verse with an unaccented (i. e., a short) syllable, but this custom has produced the impression that the verse consists of five iambi, and among people but little versed in the rules of classical poetry who forget that an iambic meter consists of two feet, has given rise to the error that blank verse is an iambic pentameter. Strange to say this mistake is now perpetuated in almost all our text-books.
* * * * *
After this digression on the iambic trimeter we shall make, in conclusion, a few comments on the dactylic pentameter.
The pentameter, i. e., “a five-measure,” is so called because it consists of twice two and a half dactylic meters thus:
–◡◡–◡◡–
In reality the pentameter is a repetition of a penthemimeres.
Two short syllables may always be replaced in elegiac distichs by one long syllable, with the exception of the fifth meter of the hexameter and the latter half of the pentameter. The schedule of a distich, accordingly, is thus:
— — — — — — –◡◡–◡◡–◡◡–◡◡–◡◡–◡◡–◡
— — –◡◡–◡◡–||–◡◡–◡◡–
Considering the fact that the measures of Greek prosody are comparable to musical bars in which time and not accent is the decisive element, we readily understand that the name “pentameter” is a misnomer, for the pentameter consists as much as the hexameter of six full dactylic bars, only that there is a pause of one-half meter after each two and a half meters. Expressed in musical characters, the distich reads as follows:
[Music]
INTRODUCTORY.
Our Purpose.
These gay verses, revering the good, will annoy the philistine,
Ridicule bigots, and smite hypocrites, as they deserve.
Vorsatz
Den Philister verdriesse, den Schwärmer necke, den Heuchler
Quäle der fröhliche Vers, der nur das Gute verehrt.
Our Method.
Wherefore in verse are we speaking? We trust that the verse is impressive.
When we were talking in prose, never ye listened to us.
Das Mittel.
Warum sagst du uns das in Versen? Die Verse sind wirksam,
Spricht man in Prosa zu euch, Stopft ihr die Ohren euch zu.
The Distich.
In the hexameter rises the jet of a wonderful fountain,
Which in a graceful descent back as pentameter falls.
Das Distichon.
Im Hexameter steigt des Springquells flüssige Säule,
Im Pentameter drauf fällt sie melodisch herab.
Boisterous.
Times have I witnessed run mad, and never let slip the occasion,
Following fashion’s command, madly in madness to join.
Uebermüthig.
Tolle Zeiten hab’ ich erlebt und hab’ nicht ermangelt,
Selbst auch thöricht zu sein, Wie es die Zeit mir gebot.
Our Common Fate.
O, how we struggle and hate! Inclinations, opinions divide us.
Yet in the meantime thy locks turn into silver like mine.
Das gemeinsame Schicksal.
Siehe, wir hassen, wir streiten, es trennet uns Neigung und Meinung;
Aber es bleichet indes dir sich die Locke, wie mir.
The Last Martyr.
That you may roast me like Huss,[1] it is possible; but it is certain,
After me cometh the swan who will my mission complete.
Der letzte Märtyrer.
Auch mich bratet ihr noch als Huss vielleicht, aber wahrhaftig!
Lange bleibet der Schwan, der es vollendet, nicht aus.
SOUL AND WORLD.
Our Own.
Common possessions are thoughts, while your sentiment only is private.
Shall He your property be, feel Him--the God whom you think.
Das eigne Ideal.
Allen gehört, was du denkst, dein eigen ist nur, was du fühlest,
Soll er dein Eigenthum sein, fühle den Gott, den du denkst.
Harmony.
Reason, what is it? The voice of the whole; and thy heart is thy selfhood.
Happy thou art, if for aye reason will dwell in thy heart.
Schöne Individualität.
Stimme des Ganzen ist deine Vernunft, dein Herz bist du selber:
Wohl dir, wenn die Vernunft immer im Herzen dir wohnt.
The Key.
If, friend, thyself thou wilt fathom, observe how thy fellows are acting.
If thou thy fellows wilt know, search in thine own heart of hearts.
Der Schlüssel.
Willst du dich selber erkennen, so sieh, wie die Andern es treiben.
Willst du die Andern verstehn, blick in dein eigenes Herz.
Worth and Value.
Dost thou _possess_ things, impart them to me, and I’ll pay thee their value.
But, friend, if something thou _art_, let us our souls interchange!
Das Werthe und Würdige.
Hast du etwas, so gib es her und ich zahle, was recht ist,
Bist du etwas, o dann tauschen die Seelen wir aus.
Nature and Reason.
Reason may build above nature, but findeth there emptiness only,
Genius will nature increase, nature, however, it adds.
Der Genius.
Ueber Natur hinaus baut die Vernunft doch nur in das Leere,
Du nur, Genius, mehrst in der Natur die Natur.
Oneness.
Beauty is always but one, though the beautiful changes and varies,
And ’tis the change of the one, which thus the beautiful forms.
Schönheit.
Schönheit ist ewig nur Eine, doch mannichfach wechselt das Schöne,
Dass es wechselt, das macht eben das Eine nur schön.
Various Destinies.
Millions of folks are kept busy the race of mankind propagating,
But in the minds of a few, only, humanity grows.
Die verschiedene Bestimmung.
Millionen sorgen dafür, dass die Gattung bestehe,
Aber durch Wenige nur pflanzet die Menschheit sich fort.
The Immutable.
Time, unimpeded, is hastening on. Why? It seeketh the constant.
He who is faithful will bind time with eternity’s ties.
Das Unwandelbare.
“Unaufhaltsam enteilet die Zeit.” Sie sucht das Beständ’ge.
Sei getreu, und du legst ewige Fesseln ihr an.
The Law of Nature.
Thus it was always, my friend; it will be so forever, that weakness
Claims in its favor the rule, yet it is strength that succeeds.
Das Naturgesetz.
So war’s immer, mein Freund, und so wird’s bleiben. Die Ohnmacht
Hat die Regel für sich, aber die Kraft den Erfolg.
Zeus to Heracles.
Thou hast divinity, son, not acquired by drinking my nectar;
But thy divinity has conquered the nectar for thee.
Zeus zu Herkules.
Nicht aus meinem Nektar hast du dir Gottheit getrunken;
Deine Götterkraft war’s, die dir den Nektar errang.
Folly and Insanity.
Wit, if it awkwardly misses the point, is regarded as silly,
But when a genius slips, madly in fury he raves.
Aberwitz und Wahnwitz.
Ueberspringt sich der Witz, so lachen wir über den Thoren,
Gleitet der Genius aus, ist er dem Rasenden gleich.
Motives and Action.
“God only seeth the heart!” Since the heart can be seen by God only,
Friend, let us also behold something that is not amiss.
Inneres und Aeusseres.
“Gott nur siehet das Herz.” Drum eben, weil Gott nur das Herz sieht,
Sorge, dass wir doch auch etwas Erträgliches sehn.
Baal Priests.
Liberty sacred and holy, man’s noble endeavor for progress,
Never couldst thou for thy cause worse representatives find.
Baalspfaffen.
Heilige Freiheit! Erhabener Trieb der Menschen zum Bessern!
Wahrlich, du konntest dich nicht schlechter mit Priestern versehn!
Salvation.
Two are the roads out of life, which to all lie equally open: To the ideal the one leadeth, the other to death.
Venture to make thine escape on the former while time still may grant it, Ere on the latter thou art doomed to destruction and death.
Die idealische Freiheit.
Aus dem Leben heraus sind der Wege zwei dir geöffnet: Zum Ideale führt einer, der andre zum Tod.
Siehe, dass du bei Zeit noch frei auf dem ersten entspringest, Ehe die Parze mit Zwang dich auf dem andern entführt.
Human Life.
When we are starting in life, an eternity opens before us.
Yet e’en the wise at its close narrowly limited end.
Menschliches Wirken.
An dem Eingang der Bahn liegt die Unendlichkeit offen,
Doch mit dem engesten Kreis höret der Weiseste auf.
Immortality.
Art thou afraid, friend, of death, and for life everlasting art yearning?
Live as a part of the whole! When thou art gone it remains.
Unsterblichkeit.
Vor dem Tode erschrickst du? Du wünschest, unsterblich zu leben?
Leb’ im Ganzen! Wenn du lange dahin bist, es bleibt.
Indestructible.
Float down-stream to the ocean, O ice-floe! And if as an ice-floe
Reachest thou not the great main, surely thou’lt find it as drops.
Unsterblich.
Schwimme, du mächtige Scholle, nur hin! und kommst du als Scholle
Nicht hinunter, du kommst doch wohl als Tropfen ins Meer.
God, World, and Man.
Is it a secret abysmal, what God, what the world, and what man is?
No! But the truth is not liked: therefore the secret remains.
Gott, Welt und Mensch.
Ist’s denn so grosses Geheimniss, was Gott und der Mensch und die Welt sei?
Nein! Doch Niemand hört’s gerne; da bleibt es geheim.
CRITICAL AND LITERARY.
The Poet Addresses His Muse.
How I could live without thee, I conceive not. But horror o’ertakes me,
Seeing these thousands and more who without thee can exist.
An die Muse.
Was ich ohne dich wäre, ich weiss es nicht; aber mir grauet,
Seh’ ich, was ohne dich Hundert’ und Tausende sind.
To Incompetent Reviewers.
Difficult ’tis to achieve; to find fault, though, is easy, O critics!
Shrink not, when finding a flaw, excellence freely to praise.
Die Unberufenen.
Tadeln ist leicht, erschaffen so schwer; ihr Tadler des Schwachen,
Habt ihr das Treffliche denn auch zu belohnen ein Herz?
Wolf’s Homer.
Seven Greek cities have boasted of being the birthplace of Homer.
Since he is torn by the Wolf,[2] ev’ry one taketh her piece.
Der Wolfische Homer.
Sieben Städte zankten sich drum, ihn geboren zu haben,
Nun da der Wolf ihn zerriss, nehme sich jede ihr Stück.
Intellectual Aristocracy.
Easily wins an enthusiast disciples by stirring the masses. Thinkers of solidest stamp find but a scanty support.
Pictures that miracles work are invariably daubs without value, Products of genuine art suit not the taste of the mob.
Geistige Aristokratie.
Schüler macht sich der Schwärmer genug und rühret die Menge, Wenn der vernünftige Mann einzelne Liebende zählt.
Wunderthätige Bilder sind meist nur schlechte Gemälde: Werke des Geists und der Kunst sind für den Pöbel nicht da.
Bad Times.
Language philosophers spoil, so is logic distorted by poets;
Sound common sense in this way badly is crippled for life.
Böse Zeiten.
Philosophen verderben die Sprache, Poeten die Logik,
Und mit dem Menschenverstand kommt man durch’s Leben nicht mehr.
Mutual Admiration Society.
Be not so dainty, dear sirs. Are ye anxious to heap on each other
Honor and praise, ye should rail one at the other with vim.
Auf zwei Sudler, die einander loben.
Nicht so, nicht so, ihr Herrn. Wollt ihr einander zu Ehren
Bringen, muss vor der Welt Einer den Andern verschrei’n.
Dilettante.
If thou succeed with a verse in a language worked out and consummate,
Shaping thy thought and thy rhyme, think’st thou a poet thou art.
Dilettant.
Weil ein Vers dir gelingt in einer gebildeten Sprache,
Die für dich dichtet und denkt, glaubst du schon Dichter zu sein.
To One Author.
Tell me the things that you know, and I’ll be glad to receive it.
But if you will give yourself, spare me, my friend, if you please.[3]
An ⁕.
Theile mir mit, was du weisst, ich werd’ es dankbar empfangen,
Aber du gibst mir dich selbst, damit verschone mich, Freund.
To Another Author.
Please do not try to teach facts, for we care not a straw for the subject.
All we do care for are facts as they are treated by _you_.[4]
An ⁕⁕.
Du willst Wahres mich lehren? Bemühe dich nicht, nicht die Sache
Will ich durch dich, ich will dich durch die Sache nur sehn.
Wanted.
Wanted, a servant who writeth a legible hand, and who also
Fairly can spell, but he must leave the _belles lettres_ alone.
Sachen so gesucht werden.
Einen Bedienten wünscht man zu haben, der leserlich schreibet
Und orthographisch, jedoch nichts in _belles lettres_ gethan.
Artifice.
Do you desire the applause of the worldly as well as the pious,
Picture licentiousness, but picture the Devil besides.[5]
Der Kunstgriff.
Wollt ihr zugleich den Kindern der Welt und den Frommen gefallen?
Malet die Wollust -- nur malet den Teufel dazu.
A Discussion.
One, we can hear, speaks after the other, but no one gives answer.
Several monologues are, certainly, not a debate.[6]
Das philosophische Gespräch.
Einer, das höret man wohl, spricht nach dem Andern, doch Keiner
Mit dem Andern; wer nennt zwei Monologen Gespräch?
SATIRICAL AND PERSONAL.
The Great Moment.
This our century, freely I grant, has begot a great epoch;
But the great moment, alas! findeth a very small race.
Der Zeitpunkt.
Eine grosse Epoche hat das Jahrhundert geboren,
Aber der grosse Moment findet ein kleines Geschlecht.
To Some Critics.
Wretches! Speak wretched of me, but oblige me by truthfully adding:
Earnest is he. For the rest, wretches, speak wretched of me.
An die Herren H. J. K.
Lumpen! redet lumpig von mir, doch saget: es war ihm
Ernst! und redet sodann, Lumpen, ihr lumpig von mir.
The Vinculum.
How has nature united in man the sublime and the vulgar?
Vanity did she ensconce right in the middle of both.
Das Verbindungsmittel.
Wie verfährt die Natur, um Hohes und Niedres im Menschen
Zu verbinden? Sie stellt Eitelkeit zwischen hinein.
Present Generation.
Has it been always as now? O how strange is to-day’s generation!
Youthful is only old age, old, alas! only is youth.
Jetzige Generation.
War es immer wie jetzt? Ich kann das Geschlecht nicht begreifen.
Nur das Alter ist jung, Ach! und die Jugend ist alt.
To Those in Authority.
Don’t be disturbed by the barking; remain in your places. The barkers
Eagerly wish for your seats, there to be barked at themselves.[7]
An die Oberen.
Immer bellt man auf euch! bleibt sitzen! es wünschen die Beller
Jene Plätze, wo man ruhig das Bellen vernimmt.
Questionable Investigation.
Gentlemen, boldly dissect, for dissection is very instructive.
Woe, none the less, to the frog who has to offer his leg.
Kritische Studien.
Schneidet, schneidet, ihr Herrn, durch Schneiden lernet der Schüler,
Aber wehe dem Frosch, der euch den Schenkel muss leihn!
The Spirit and the Letter.
Truly, you may for a time still deceive with your valueless counters,
But in the end, my dear sirs, debts must be paid in good coin.
Der Geist und der Buchstabe.
Lange kann man mit Marken, mit Rechenpfennigen zählen,
Endlich, es hilft nichts, ihr Herrn, muss man den Beutel doch ziehn.
The Sense of a Committee.
Ev’ry one singly considered, is sensible, doubtless, and clever;
But in a body the whole number of them is a dunce.
Gelehrte Gesellschaft.
Jeder, siehst du ihn einzeln, ist leidlich klug und verständig,
Sind sie _in corpore_, gleich wird ein Dummkopf daraus.
Taste in a Watering Place.
This is a singular country; the springs here have taste and the rivers;
Taste, though, is not to be found in the inhabitants’ minds.
Gesundbrunnen zu ⁕⁕⁕.
Seltsames Land! Hier haben die Flüsse Geschmack und die Quellen,
Bei den Bewohnern allein hab’ ich noch keinen verspürt.
Sample of Modern Criticism.
You, among poets, alone possess worth, for to imitate nature,
Nevermore would you object platitudes freely to use.
Probe moderner Kritik.
Du nur bist mir der würdige Dichter! Es kommt dir auf eine
Platitüde nicht an, nur um natürlich zu sein.
Nicolai’s Book on the Source of the Danube.[8]
Nothing he likes that is great; for that reason the shallow inquirer
Traces, great Danube, thy course till thou art shallow and flat.
Nikolai’s Buch über die Quellen der Donau.
Nichts kann er leiden was gross ist und mächtig, drum, herrliche Donau,
Spürt dir der Häscher so lang nach, bis er seicht dich ertappt.
The Collector.
Always he fought against form, and he knows it. He, during his lifetime,
Gathered with trouble and pain formless material in heaps.
Formalphilosophie.
Allen Formen macht er den Krieg, er weiss wohl, zeitlebens
Hat er mit Müh’ und Noth Stoff nur zusammengeschleppt.
Crudity.
Can you not touch it with hands, then, O blind one, you think it chimeric!
And, ’tis a pity, your hands sully whatever they touch.
Das grobe Organ.
Was du mit Händen nicht greifst, das scheint dir Blindem ein Unding,
Und betastest du was, gleich ist das Ding auch beschmutzt.
Nicolai’s Motto.
Truth I am preaching. ’Tis truth; and nothing but truth--understand me.
My truth, of course! For I know none to exist but my own.
Das Motto.
Wahrheit sag’ ich euch, Wahrheit und immer Wahrheit, versteht sich:
Meine Wahrheit; denn sonst ist mir auch keine bekannt.
A Publisher.
Look at this press which I own. The machine when it printeth is thinking.
Here I present you a book which as a sample may serve.
Verleger von P⁕⁕ Schriften.
Eine Maschine besitz’ ich, die selber denkt, wie sie drucket,
Obengenanntes Werk zeig’ ich zur Probe hier vor.
In Comparison with Socrates.
Pythia dubbed him a sage, when of ignorance boldly he boasted.
Friend, how much wiser art thou! What he pretended, thou art.
Sokrates.
Weil er unwissend sich rühmte, nannt’ ihn Apollo den Weisen.
Freund, wie viel weiser bist du; was er blos rühmte, du bist’s.
To Certain Moralists.
’Tis a great pity, dear sirs, to espouse the right cause you are anxious,
But you are void of good sense: reason and judgment are gone.
An die Herren N. O. P.
Euch bedaur’ ich am meisten, ihr wähltet gern das Gute,
Aber euch hat die Natur gänzlich das Urtheil versagt.
Martyrs.
Nail to the cross the fanatic as soon as he reacheth the thirties!
For when he knoweth the world, surely the dupe will turn rogue.
Guter Rathschlag.
Jeglichen Schwärmer schlagt mir ans Kreuz im dreissigsten Jahre;
Kennt er nur einmal die Welt, wird der Betrogne der Schelm.
The Brothers Stolberg.[9]
Since you reviled the Olympian gods, Apollo has thrown you
Down from Parnassus. You now enter the heavenly realm.
Der Ersatz.
Als du die griechischen Götter geschmäht, da warf dich Apollo
Von dem Parnasse; dafür gehst du ins Himmelreich ein.
The Connoisseur.
Vases of classical art! O how easily live I without them!
But a Majolica pot maketh me happy and rich.[10]
Der Kenner.
Alte Vasen und Urnen! Das Zeug wohl könnt’ ich entbehren;
Doch ein Majolica-Topf machte mich glücklich und reich.
Sentimentalists.
Never thought I very highly of people that are sentimental.[11]
When an occasion arrives, grossly their meanness appears.
H. S.