TheDivineComedyofDanteAlighieri。TranslatedbyHenryWadsworthLongfellow。3vols。Boston:Ticknor&Fields，1867。
THEtaskofatranslatorisathanklessoneatbest。Beheneversoskilfulandaccurate，beheneversoamplyendowedwiththedivinequalificationsofthepoet，itisstillquestionableifhecaneversucceedinsayingsatisfactorilywithnewwordsthatwhichhasoncebeeninimitablysaid——saidforalltime——withtheoldwords。Psychologically，thereisperhapsnothingmorecomplexthananelaboratepoem。Thesourcesofitseffectuponourmindsmaybelikenedtoasystemofforceswhichisinthehighestdegreeunstable；andtheslightestdisplacementofphrases，bydisturbingthedelicaterhythmicalequilibriumofthewhole，mustinevitablyawakenajarringsensation。“MatthewArnoldhasgivenusanexcellentseriesoflecturesupontranslatingHomer，inwhichhedoubtlesssucceedsinshowingthatsomemethodsoftranslationarepreferabletoothers，butinwhichheprovesnothingsoforciblyasthatthesimplicityandgrace，therapidity，dignity，andfire，ofHomerarequiteincommunicable，savebytheverywordsinwhichtheyfirstfoundexpression。AndwhatisthussaidofHomerwillapplytoDantewithperhapsevengreaterforce。WithnearlyallofHomer’sgrandeurandrapidity，thoughnotwithnearlyallhissimplicity，thepoemofDantemanifestsapeculiarintensityofsubjectivefeelingwhichwasforeigntotheageofHomer，asindeedtoallpre-Christianantiquity。Butconcerningthisweneednotdilate，asithasoftenbeendulyremarkedupon，andnotablybyCarlyle，inhis“LecturesonHero-Worship。“Whothathasonceheardthewailofunutterabledespairsoundingintheline“Ahi，duraterra，perchenont’apristi？“
canrestsatisfiedwiththeinterpretation“Ah，obdurateearth，whereforedidstthounotopen？“
yetthisrenderingisliterallyexact。
AsDantehimselfobserves，“Eperosappiaciascuno，chenullacosaperlegamemusaicoarmonizzatasipuodellasueloquelainaltratrasmutaresanzaromperetuttasuedolcezzaearmonia。EquestaelaragionepercheOmerononsimutodigrecoinlatino，comel’altrescritturecheavemodaloro:equestaelaragionepercheiversidelPsalterosonosanzadolcezzadimusicaed’armonia；cheessifuronotrasmutatid’ebreoingreco，edigrecoinlatino，enellaprimatrasmutazionetuttaquelladolcezzavennemeno。“Convito，I。7，OpereMinori，Tom。
p。80。ThenobleEnglishversionofthePsalmspossessesabeautywhichisallitsown。
Asecondobstacle，hardlylessformidable，hardlylessfataltoasatisfactorytranslation，ispresentedbythehighlycomplicatedsystemoftriplerhymeuponwhichDante’spoemisconstructed。
This，whichmusteverbeastumbling-blocktothetranslator，seemsrarelytointerferewiththefreeandgracefulmovementoftheoriginalwork。Themightythoughtofthemasterfeltnoimpedimentfromtheelaborateartisticpanoplywhichmustneedsobstructandharasstheinterpretationofthedisciple。Dante’sterzarimaisabowofOdysseuswhichweakermortalscannotbendwithanyamountoftugging，andwhichMr。Longfellowhasjudiciouslyrefrainedfromtryingtobend。Yetnoonecanfailtoremarktheprodigiouslossentailedbythisnecessarysacrificeofoneofthemoststrikingcharacteristicsoftheoriginalpoem。
LetanyonewhohasdulyreflecteduponthestrangeandsubtleeffectproducedonhimbythepeculiarrhymeofTennyson’s“InMemoriam，“endeavourtorealizetheverydifferenteffectwhichwouldbeproducediftheversesweretobealternatedorcoupledinsuccessivepairs，orifrhymeweretobeabandonedforblankverse。Theexquisitemelodyofthepoemwouldbesilenced。Therhyme-systemofthe“DivineComedy“refusesequallytobetamperedwithorignored。Itseffectupontheearandthemindisquiteasremarkableasthatoftherhyme-systemof“InMemoriam“；
andtheimpossibilityofreproducingitisonegoodreasonwhyDantemustalwayssufferevenmorefromtranslationthanmostpoets。
Something，too，mustbesaidofthedifficultiesinevitablyarisingfromthediversestructureandgeniusoftheItalianandEnglishlanguages。Nonewilldenythatmanyofthemareinsurmountable。Takethethirdlineofthefirstcanto，——
“Cheladirittaviaerasmarrita，“
whichMr。Longfellowtranslates“Forthestraightforwardpathwayhadbeenlost。“
Perhapsthereisnobetterwordthan“lost“bywhichtotranslatesmarritainthisplace；yetthetwowordsarefarfromequivalentinforce。Aboutthewordsmarritathereisthrownawidepenumbraofmeaningwhichdoesnotbelongtothewordlost。[35]Byitsdiffuseconnotationsthewordsmarritacallsupinourmindsanadequatepictureofthebewildermentandperplexityofonewhoislostinatracklessforest。Thehigh-roadwithout，beatenhardbyincessantoverpassingofmenandbeastsandwheeledvehicles，graduallybecomesmetamorphosedintotheshadylane，wheregrasssproutsupranklybetweentheruts，wherebushesencroachupontheroadside，wherefallentrunksnowandtheninterceptthetraveller；andthisinturnislostincrookedby-ways，amidbramblesandunderbrushandtangledvines，growingfantasticallyathwartthepath，shootinguponallsidesoftilebewilderedwanderer，andrenderingadvanceandretreatalikehopeless。Noonewhoinchildhoodhaswanderedaloneinthewoodscanhelpfeelingallthissuggestedbythewordsmarritainthispassage。
Howbaldincomparisonisthewordlost，whichmightequallybeappliedtoapathway，areputation，andapocket-book！[36]TheEnglishisnodoubtthemostcopiousandvariouslyexpressiveofalllivinglanguages，yetIdoubtifitcanfurnishanywordcapablebyitselfofcallingupthecompleximagesheresuggestedbysmarrita。[37]Andthisisbutoneexample，outofmanythatmightbecited，inwhichthelackofexactparallelismbetweenthetwolanguagesemployedcauseseverytranslationtosuffer。
SeeDiez，RomanceDictionary，s。v。“Marrir。“
OnliterallyretranslatinglostintoItalian，weshouldgetthequitedifferentwordperduta。
ThemoreflexiblemethodofDr。Parsonsleadstoamoresatisfactorybutstillinadequateresult:——
“Half-wayonourlife’sJourney，inawood，FromtherightpathIfoundmyselfastray。“
Allthese，however，aredifficultieswhichlieinthenatureofthings，——difficultiesforwhichthetranslatorisnotresponsible；ofwhichhemusttrytomakethebestthatcanbemade，butwhichhecanneverexpectwhollytosurmount。Wehavenowtoinquirewhethertherearenototherdifficulties，avoidablebyonemethodoftranslation，thoughnotbyanother；
andincriticizingMr。Longfellow，wehavechieflytoaskwhetherhehaschosenthebestmethodoftranslation，——thatwhichmostsurelyandreadilyawakensinthereader’smindtheideasandfeelingsawakenedbytheoriginal。
Thetranslatorofapoemmayproceeduponeitheroftwodistinctprinciples。Inthefirstcase，hemayrenderthetextofhisoriginalintoEnglish，lineforlineandwordforword，preservingasfaraspossibleitsexactverbalsequences，andtranslatingeachindividualwordintoanEnglishwordasnearlyaspossibleequivalentinitsetymologicalforce。Inthesecondcase，disregardingmeresyntacticandetymologicequivalence，hisaimwillbetoreproducetheinnermeaningandpoweroftheoriginal，sofarastheconstitutionaldifferenceofthetwolanguageswillpermithim。
ItisthefirstofthesemethodsthatMr。LongfellowhasfollowedinhistranslationofDante。Fidelitytothetextoftheoriginalhasbeenhisguidingprinciple；andeveryonemustadmitthat，incarryingoutthatprinciple，hehasachievedadegreeofsuccessalikedelightfulandsurprising。Themethodofliteraltranslationisnotlikelytoreceiveanymoresplendidillustration。ItisindeedputtothetestinsuchawaythattheshortcomingsnowtobenoticedbearnotuponMr。Longfellow’sownstyleofworksomuchasuponthemethoditselfwithwhichtheyarenecessarilyimplicated。Thesedefectsare，first，thetoofrequentuseofsyntacticinversion，andsecondly，thetoomanifestpreferenceextendedtowordsofRomanicoverwordsofSaxonorigin。
Toillustratethefirstpoint，letmegiveafewexamples。InCantoI。wehave:——
“Sobitterisit，deathislittlemore；
ButofthegoodtotreatwhichthereIfound，SpeakwillIoftheotherthingsIsawthere“；
whichisthusrenderedbyMr。Cary，——
“Whichtorememberonly，mydismayRenews，inbitternessnotfarfromdeath。
Yettodiscourseofwhattheregoodbefell，AllelsewillIrelatediscoveredthere“；
andbyDr。Parsons，——
“Itsverythoughtisalmostdeathtome；
Yet，havingfoundsomegoodthere，IwilltellOfotherthingswhichthereIchancedtosee。“[38]
“Tantoeamara，chepocoepiumorte:
Mapertrattardelteench’i’vitrovai，Dirodell’altreBose，ch’iov’hoscorte。“
Inferno，I。7-10。
AgaininCantoX。wefind:——
“TheircemeteryhaveuponthissideWithEpicurusallhisfollowers，Whowiththebodymortalmakethesoul“；——
aninversionwhichisperhapsnotmoreunidiomaticthanMr。
Cary’s，——
“ThecemeteryonthispartobtainWithEpicurusallhisfollowers，Whowiththebodymakethespiritdie“；
butwhichisadvantageouslyavoidedbyMr。Wright，——
“HereEpicurushathhisfierytomb，Andwithhimallhisfollowers，whomaintainThatsoulandbodyshareonecommondoom“；
andisstillbetterrenderedbyDr。Parsons，——
“Hereintheircemeteryonthisside，Withhiswholesect，isEpicuruspent，Whothoughtthespiritwithitsbodydied。“[39]