But she loved him in vain, for he left her to weep,
And in tears, all the night, her gold tresses to steep;
Till heaven looked with pity on true love so warm,
And changed to this soft Harp the sea-maiden's form.

Still her form rises fair - still her cheeks smile the same
While her sea-beauties gracefully form'd the light frame,
And her hair, as, let loose, o'er her white arm it fell,
Was changed to bright chords utt'ring melody's spell.

Hence it came, that this soft Harp so long hath been known To mingle love's language with sorrow's sad tone

Till thou didst divide them, and teach the fond lay

To speak love when I'm near thee, and grief when away.

"Oft of one wide expanse had I been told

That deep-browed Homer ruled as his demesne."

GROUP IV.

THE TROJAN WAR AND ULYSSES.

THERE have been many translations into English verse of "The Tale of Troy Divine," as the "Iliad” of Homer has been called, since George Chapman (1557– 1634), the pioneer in this field of literary effort, made the one which called forth the following famous sonnet:

ON FIRST LOOKING INTO CHAPMAN'S HOMER.

JOHN KEATS.

Much have I travelled in the realms of gold,
And many goodly states and kingdoms seen;
Round many western islands have I been
Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold.
Oft of one wide expanse had I been told
That deep-browed Homer ruled as his demesne ;
Yet never did I breathe its pure serene

Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold:
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies

When a new planet swims into his ken;
Or like stout Cortez, when with eagle eyes
He stared at the Pacific- and all his men

Looked at each other with a wild surmise
Silent, upon a peak in Darien.

It is difficult to estimate the service done to our literature by means of these translations.

Richard Malcolm Johnston, in his history of English literature, says: "We have seen how numerous were the translations of the Greek and Roman authors in the former years of Elizabeth's reign. These translations were the classics to him (Shakspeare) and his contemporaries; and through them they became acquainted with the habits and sentiments of the ancients."

As Chapman's Homer has been the delight of generations of readers, so also has Pope's translation of the "Iliad" and "Odyssey," completed in 1725 after ten years spent on the work.

Cowper's translation of the "Iliad" and "Odyssey was made toward the close of the eighteenth century. A recent criticism of his translation says it is "accurate, finished, with some of the fire of the original."

Bryant's translation of Homer was begun in 1865 and completed in 1871.

A comparison of these different translations may be made most interesting. Those who like to read blank verse will prefer Cowper's or Bryant's version, while those who enjoy the rhymed couplet will find in Chapman's and Pope's translations the smoothness and the musical quality belonging to that form of poetry. Many scholars think a literal prose translation the best of all, and that eminent classical scholars make use of