Current:

Leader (1850-1860), 3rd September 1853, Edition Country of 2, Page 21

Page 21
Page 21
21 of 24

On this page

  • Departments (2)
    • taifnltn.
    • €k Ms
  • Text (7)
  • Transcript

    • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

      Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

      Spanish Dramas, Old And New". Six Dramas...

      is tempted to forsake her Alonzo the brave for the more solid advantages of wealth , and a marquis ' s coronet . Of course the lovers , Diego and Lola , meet again ; and the person who presents the gallant cavalier , ^ ho has just saved his life , to his astonished wife , is the Marquis de Montero , the lady ' s husband . Mutual recriminations follow , and . these are , in my opinion , the best speeches in the play . The only attempt at a dramatic situation is the scene where Diego meets Lola as the marquesa , and is first made acquainted with her infidelity to him . However , the play and l

      had a great run , was exceedingy popular in Spain , possibly from its being a tale of every-day life , and therefore coining homo directly or indirectly to the feelings of many of the audience /' poor as this work intrinsically is , we thank Mr . Parker for having made us acquainted with it , and trust he may be induced to give us more illustrations of the modern ( Spanish drama—especially of Zorilla and Harfczembusch . In an illustrative volume , they would have another interest beyond that of their intrinsic merit .

      Mr . " Fitzgerald ' s Six Dramas of Calderon must be regarded less as an attempt to convey an accurate idea of Calderon ' s greatness , than of Spanish comedy generally . He has not selected the finest plays—and his selection is deliberately confined to those requiring a less poetical treatment , so that the inevitable loss undergone in translation may be somewhat diminished . His mode of translation , moreover , is somewhat arbitrary , yet suited to his purpose of giving us effective dramas . Thus he has curtailed long passages , suppressed scenes , simplified perplexities , and ,

      " while faithfully trying to retain what was fine and efficient , sunk , reduced , altered , and replaced what was not . " It is not Calderon , so much as an English , imitation of Calderon—sometimes skilfully , sometimes indifferently executed . " We are writing this away from Spanish books , and cannot therefore compare the translation with the original ; but certain passages , living in our memory , are not rendered with felicity —e . g ., Crespo in El Alcalde de Zalamea , being told that all he has he owes to the king , and therefore cannot resist , says : —

      " Al rey la hacienda y la vida » se ha de dar ; pero el honor es patriinonio del alma y el alma solo es de Dios . ' "To the king belongs my wealth and life ; but my honour is the patrimony of my soul , and my soul belongs to God alone . " This Mr . Fitzgerald renders , "My goods and chattels , ay , and my life , are the king's ; but my honojir is m y ^ own soul ' s , and that is—God Almighty ' s . " This is surel

      y an unnecessary weakening of the original . To quit details , and consider only the ensemble , we -may say of Mr . Fitzgerald ' s volume , that it is an acceptable contribution to our dramatic literature , and interesting to the general scholar . Translation is at the best such an ungrateful task that one cannot wonder if translators stretch their license somewhat ; and it should be observed , in conclusion , that Mr . Fitzgerald has done no more in this way than M . Damas Hinard , whose French translation does not avow itself as executed on such " free " principles .

      September 3, 1853.] The Leader. 861

      September 3 , 1853 . ] THE LEADER . 861

      Taifnltn.

      taifnltn .

      We Should Do Our Utmost To Encourage The...

      We should do our utmost to encourage the Beautiful , for the Useful encourages itself . —Goethe . j

      Meeting And Parting. From Goethe. " Es S...

      MEETING AND PARTING . From Goethe . " Es sclilug mein herz—geschwincl zu pferde !" I . My heart beat quick—To horse , away ! Swifter than thought , and onward still ! Soon on the plain the evening lay , And soon the night hung on the hill ; And through the mist , the oak that loomed A storied giant seemed to rise , When darkness through the thicket gloomed Drearily with a hundred eyes . ii . Siid , from behind a piled-up cloud , The moon looked forth upon the night ; Strange harp-like moanings , deep , not loud , The winds were uttering in their flight , And formless horrors thronged my road—Yet , ah , my soul was glad , was free ; My blood wuh burning us it flowed—My heart was wiinn with thoughts of theo ! ill . I saw thee , juul a tender joy Streamed from thy gentle glance to mine ; Against thy yide my heart beat high , And every breath I drew was thine : A brightness , ( Yesh as spring-tide flowers , About thy dearest face there grew , Where beamed thy love for me , —kind powers !— -r My hope , but all beyond my due . IV . Too soon the sun stood in the sky , When we must part—my heart was wrung ¦ Then in thy kisses , 0 what joy , Then on thine eyes what ( sadness hung !

      I went—thy glances followed me , Tearfully eager , on my road—But O , what bliss beloved to be ! To love thee , what a rapture ,- —God ! GOLDING PeNROSE

      €K Ms

      € k Ms

      Vivian Nautical. Avast There, Header! Na...

      VIVIAN NAUTICAL . Avast there , Header ! Nature has swabbed her decks , and it will be hard lines for a poor invalided mariner like me , if on such a day as this I can't have a taste of the briny , shiver my timbers ! Having flavoured iny style with that dash of salt water , as a bit of local c olouring , and to show sceptical females that I can hitch up my trousers , and do the British Tar with any man above JUrith , when it pleases me , I will resume my own natural language to tell you , for want of dramatic gossip , how I spent Monday last . You are not curious to hear ? Perhaps not ; but if you don ' t want to hear , perhaps I want to tell ! Ainsi !

      The weather was paradoxically beautiful—as if Nature , the coquette , had concentrated in one day all the tenderness and sunny brightness she had withheld for a week . ( How like a woman ! sobbing on your shirt front , irrespective of appearances , for two hours , and then , as you are about to leave , brightening-up for twenty minutes of distracting tenderness !) I needed the fine weather , being in a languid , limp condition . My very whiskers wouldn't curl ! It was thought the sight of the Fleet would give my nautical mind a fillip , and so we drove to Gosporfc , which struck me as not being an impassioned city . Having arranged about dinner , we took a boat , and were rowed to the Victory , Nelson's old ship , an historical sight , if there is such a thing , to every Englishman . There is something in a man-of-war peculiarly grand and impressive ; but to walk over that ship , accompanied by crowding associations , and to mount upon deck , and there see on a small brass plate the words , —

      Hebe Nelson fele . is to feel something tremulous within which keeps you silent , reverentially sad . And then you are taken down to the dark cockpit , where they point to the knee of the ship , against which his head rested as that great heroic heart sank into a last sleep . There are not many spots in England that would have affected me so much . Having seen the Victory , we went over the Neptune , which was all ready for sea . She is next in size to the Wellington , and a finer vessel cannot be named . But grand , clear , bright , efficient as everythingseemed on board this ship , which was like a floating city to the mind ' s

      eye , it wanted the peculiar interest to us of the v ictory , to which our thoughts and speech were evermore recurrent . Do you think , oh , eminently respectable England , that your conduct is virtuous , and worthy of the nation which could produce a Nelson , in your treatment of Nelson ' s daughter ? You are lavish in your pensions and honours to those who have oftentimes but moderately served youyou are magnificent to royal bastards—but your " propriety" forbids your acknowledging Nelson ' s child . Is this healthy P is it moral P Let us suppose your propriety outraged by the erring mother , and your respectability utterly setting its face against her , yet what has the daughter done that she should be so terrible to Respectability P

      And you , Reader , do you think our hero would have been theherohe was , had he not been capable of so profound a love P It may not bo necessary for a man to be an able commodore that he should bo madly in love with some woman ; a man may gain great battles , and be an immense admiral , without having that capacity for profound and enduring affection which is manifested by great natures . Therefore , when I put that question respecting Nelson , 1 don't mean to ask if his love was the cause of Aboukir , or Trafalgar . I mean that Nelson would not have been tho hero ho was without his love . The exaltation of his faculties , the restless , sublimely daring forgetfulnesa of self , the heroism of the man , was intimately connected with what many a weather-beaten old commodoro would consider his " weakness . " You don ' t agree with mo P Then you are wrong .

      I shall not detail our visit to Portsmouth , and our observations on the Fleet . But if any man brings out a nautical drama during tho next thrco months , wont I bo down upon his leo scuppers ! Vivian .

      The Cosmos Institute .. An Interesting P...

      THE COSMOS INSTITUTE .. An interesting proposal has been made public respecting Mr . Wyld ' s Great , Globe in Leicester-square . Tho preliminary steps bavo been taken for establishing an association to bo called tho Cosmos Institute , tho object of which is to establish a museum of maps , models , specimens , and books illustrating geographical science , opou to tho public at a small diargo , und thus placing ono of the sciences most essential to understanding the current knowledge of tho day within reach ofovory class . It is agreeable to _ observe-that many of tho public , instilutions , intendod for purposes of amusement ; , have gradually been converted to purposes of practical instruction . In the case of tho panoramas , fixed or moving , this lms boon ""''""'"'" . . in MM ? niHiJ tn i ; iH > lmiuMaiiutM , uA . eu vi juoviuu , n « o *•««> « . /^^« other Institu

      particularly the case Polytechnics , Crystal Palaces , and - tions of tho kind , aro still closer examples , and tho Cosmos Institute would take its place- in tho list and supply an oxisting vacuum . Amongst the names of tho imtroriH wo hoc those of tho Bishop of Saint David ' s , Von llnmboldl ; , lu-anois Hoaufort ; , and Mr . Luyard , besides many persons of high rank and metropolitan influence . The President of tho Institution in Lord Stanley , whoso ambition has for tho most part shown itself in aetivoly useful directions . The basis of tins museum is to bo tho Great ; Globe , with ho much of its accessories as have been collootod . The si to in to bo Leicester-squaro , tho present building being completed for that purpose .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 3, 1853, page 21, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_03091853/page/21/