IF the reader will put the book-marker between those pages
of the Index which correspond with the pages of the text where How to
he is reading, he will readily find the information that he wants.
It is true that very often one cannot fully understand a passage
unless one knows who wrote it; on the other hand it is an idle and
pernicious habit to ask for information on any question before bring-
ing one's own judgment to bear upon it: and this book may even
have a secondary usefulness in providing material for the exercise
of literary judgment, in those who have any taste for the practice.
It was a part of the original scheme to quote nothing from the
Bible, for several reasons-
-chiefly because it is so well-known that The
a reader might resent having such familiar quotations offered to Bible.
him, and might pass them over unread; and again because this
familiarity implies deep-rooted associations, which would be likely
to distort the context. When the idea of total exclusion was
relinquished, the objection of familiarity was met by not always
using the familiar version. Convenient opportunities have been
taken for representing Wyclif and Tyndale; and in some other
places the compiler has (with the help of his more learned friends)
attempted to bring the authorised version nearer to the Hebrew,
where it seemed that its beauty might thereby be increased
without damage to the style or the rhythm.
There are but twenty pages of French in all this anthology,
and one-fifteenth is so small a proportion that the English reader The
cannot complain that he has been cheated in his bargain. French French
is the foreign language best known in Britain, and the easiest for pieces.
us to read, if not to speak and it is to be wished that our inter-
national entente and happy alliance in the cause of honour and
humanity may lead to a nearer and more general acquaintance
with our neighbours' beautiful literature. Since both their prose
and their poetry (in its earlier and latest schools) excel in those
qualities which our authors most lack, it is well to put ourselves
side by side for comparison. There is no literature from which
our writers could learn more, and to encourage the study of it is
a first duty of any one who can further it. This book gains great
beauty from the grace and excellence of the French items.
Original Those passages translated by the compiler are marked with an
Transla- asterisk* in the Index; but his originality is of different amount
in the several translations. While in all cases he is wholly
responsible for the rendering, he has sometimes merely corrected
another's version to suit his own taste. Such obligations are
described in the notes to each piece.
As the compiler was guided by his own moods, it is evident
that he might be considered as under a perpetual temptation to
quote from himself. He has put in but one of his own original
poems (No. 49), and this is in a classic metre, as are a few other
half-original verse-translations by him: his chief motive for
introducing these was the variety of their form. If it be thought
that in the choice of some other pieces he has been influenced by
personal feeling, his reply is that he did not wish to put his honest
likings aside.
As for errors due to inaccuracy or ignorance, he hopes that
they are not so many as to lessen the delight of reading, or cause
him to be suspected of negligence: But he knows that they are
likely to be so numerous that he is afraid to make more than
a general acknowledgment of the assistance which many friends
have readily given him, lest they should be involved in the dis-
credit of his blunders. The special notice of collaboration given
in the Index does not make those helpers in any way responsible
for his mistakes.
N.B. Abreviations, &c., in Index.-O.B.E.V. or O.B.V. Oxford
Bk. of English Verse.-Palgrave = P.'s Golden Treasury, 1861.-
References, &c., given under first quotation from an author are not
repeated the first entry can be found by reference to List of
Authors.
1. SPINOZA. b. 1632. From beginning of ' De Intellectus Emen-
datione'.*
2. KEATS. In a letter of Ap. 18, 1819.
3. SHAKESPEARE. 'Tempest'. Act IV. Prospero is speaking to
Ferdinand.
4. BLAKE. 'Songs of Experience', engraved 1794.
5. MAT. ARNOLD. From Thyrsis.
6. SHELLEY. From Stanzas written in Dejection near Naples.
7. R. W. DIXON. Historical Odes', &c. Smith Elder. 1864.
8. ARTHUR RIMBAUD. Chanson de la plus haute Tour. From
'Les Illuminations', 1872-3. He gives a later version of this
poem in 'Une Saison en Enfer', whence I take the form of
the refrain at end of quotation.
9. GERARD HOPKINS. Spring and Fall.
To a young child.
Printed in 'Poets and Poetry of the Century, Vol. viii.
10. R. W. DIXON. Last stanza of Ode to Joy: in 'Christ's
Company'. Smith Elder. 1861.
II. SHELLEY. In stanza 2 Day is feminine but masculine in
12. JOB. End of ch. iii. Ernest Renan's translation.
13. SHAKESPEARE. 3.Henry VI'. Act II. sc. 5. The battle of
Wakefield: 1460.
14. CARLYLE. 'French Revolution', I. pp. 12 and 14. In line
19 of extract the text from which this was copied has and
dwelling, and in line 31 become compressed. Also in line
13 I have given a capital initial to dull.
15. ECCLESIASTES. Almost entirely from Auth. and Rev. Vers.
I am responsible for the differences.
16. PLATO. 'Phaedo', 66.* In my renderings of Plato I have aimed
at pleasing myself. I used Jowett's version wherever it
suited me; and sought expert assistance when I was in
uncertainty.
17. KABIR. The Weaver Mystic of Northern India. From 'One
hundred poems of Kabir, translated by Rabindranath
Tagore, assisted by Evelyn Underhill, &c.'. Macmillan.
1914. Bk. 1. 57.
I thank Messrs Macmillan for
permission to use this book, with liberty to make the slight
changes which for sake of diction or rhythm I wished to
introduce. No change was made without reference to the
original, of which there was fortunately a copy in private
hands in Oxford: the text not being accessible in the
British Museum or Bodleian Libraries. [See 19].
18. Anonymous. S. John Baptist. From 'XAPITEZZI'. Bowes
& Bowes. Cambridge. 1912.
One of the wandering Saints of Persia. In all my
Oriental quotations, I owe everything to my friend Hasan
Shahid Suhrawardy for putting his taste and wide learning
at my disposal. The choice of this and of some other
pieces is due to him; and I worked on his admirable
English translations under his guidance, having myself no
knowledge of any Oriental language.
20. GREGORY THE GREAT. Bishop of Rome 590-604. From
'Dialogus beati Gregorii Papae ejusque diaconi Petri',
Lib. I, ad init. Partly from an old translation, 1608.*
21. MILTON. The opening lines of 'Samson Agonistes'. Milton
was himself blind when he wrote this.
22. WORDSWORTH. Lines written in early spring. 1798.
23. CHAUCER. From 'The Frankeleyn's Tale', 1. 178. The
Garden is in Penmarch near Quimper.
24. SHELLEY. From The Recollection. 1822. It was on the
sea-shore near to this forest that Shelley's body was cast
up and burned.
25. KEATS. Ode to Autumn.
26. W. B. YEATS. The Lake isle of Innisfree, from 'Poems'.
Fisher Unwin. 1895. I owe special thanks to my friend
Mr. Yeats for his sympathy in this book, and for allowing
me to use his beautiful poems so freely.
27. MOSCHOS of Syracuse. Third century B. C., translated by
28. PLATO. In the Greek Anthology; Mackail, p. 190.*
29. MARCUS AURELIUS. IMP. Els éavтóv, iv. 3.*
30. PLATO. 'Phaedo', 79 D.* [See 16.]
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