"REMORSE" was first cast at Nether Stowey, in the year 1797, the author being then in his twenty-fifth year, in the spring-tide of his creative faculty, if not in the maturity of his judgment. It was written expressly for the stage, at the instigation, and with the encouragement of Mr. Sheridan, by whom, however, it was not deemed suitable for that purpose. Ultimately it was brought out at Drury Lane Theatre in the year 1813, under the auspices of Lord Byron and Mr. Whitbread, when it ran twenty nights,-such welcome was given to the aspirant,

Who first essayed in that distinguished fane
Severer muses and a tragic strain.*

Probably it had been remodelled to some extent with a view to stage effect; but as, with one exception, it has not been reproduced in London, it may still, perhaps, be found imperfectly adapted for the purposes of the theatre. To the reader the question is of little moment. As a dramatic poem,—indeed, as a drama, in the strictest sense of the term, though more adapted for mental representation than for a visible stage,—the “Remorse" has long taken a place in the standard literature of the country. One beautiful scene from the first draught of the play, "The Dungeon," or as it is now entitled, "The Foster Mother's Tale," was published in Wordsworth's Lyrical Ballads in 1798, and has since been printed with the author's Poems. Another fragment is given in a note to the present drama. Both appear more or less necessary for the perfect understanding of the plot. If there were many such curtailments, or if for the sake of a more rapid action the reflective character of the piece were in any degree sacrificed, it might almost be regretted that the rejected "Osorio," for such was the original title, had not been preserved as it came from the author's pen.

The translation of "Wallenstein" requires a more particular notice, the high reputation which this extraordinary, and as it has been deemed, unique performance has enjoyed for upwards of half

* The concluding lines of the Prologue to "Remorse" by Charles Lamb.

a century, having exposed it to a severity of criticism which, even if it were just, could hardly have been anticipated by the author, and which has certainly been provoked by its merits, rather than by its pretensions. By the author himself this translation, with whatever feelings or motives it may have been undertaken, was viewed in the retrospect as an irksome toil, which had actually paralysed his poetical faculty. That the spell was soon and effectually broken there is good proof in the second part of "Wallenstein," which was composed in the autumn of the year 1800-the same in which both parts of the "Wallenstein," though with an interval, went to press. The translation had been commenced in the close of the year 1799, immediately after his return from Germany, and was finished in six weeks. The date of the MS. by Schiller is September, 1799, and the English version was to be brought out at the same time that the play was published in German. Such was the condition under which the publication was undertaken, which may account for the rapidity with which the translation was dispatched and carried through the press. It was executed, however, as the author observed in a letter to a friend, in the prime of his life, and in the vigour of his mind.* The intention, doubtless, was to produce a readable drama, reference being had to the existing taste of the English public, as the only way in which the German writer could become favourably known, or indeed known at all, to general readers in this country. A complete revolution has since taken place in this respect, very much, in the first instance, through the influence of Coleridge's writings and conversation, and, indeed, of this very translation. If his admiration of Schiller's dramatic powers, and of this drama in particular, appear somewhat cold and measured, as compared with the tenor of modern criticism, it was then at least as far in advance of the public estimate as it may now seem to fall short of it. It is certain that he considered this great work as unequal in execution -admirable as a whole, and most admirable in particular scenes, yet with a tendency to excess, characteristic of the German writers in general, and an occasional extravagance both of sentiment and expression. He believed that he should give the work a better chance of becoming popular in this country by some slight curtailment. He sought to give movement and variety to the blank verse, which he considered heavy and monotonous. He renders some of the scenes in prose, after the example of our own elder dramatists, and, as appears to the editor, with excellent effect. In a very few instances he has expanded the original thought; but for this he offers an apology, which has hitherto (with one recent exception, which will be noticed presently) been very cordially accepted. It has even been supposed that Schiller re-translated some of these additions into his own play; but a comparison between the two texts, as they now stand, has led the Editor to an opposite conclusion. The lines, really additional, that is to say, introduced into the text from which the translation was made, are very few. On the whole, it is evident that the task which he pro

* Gilman's "Life of Coleridge," p. 146. ↑ Table Talk, p. 323, third edition.

posed to himself was somewhat different from that of a translator dealing with a classic work, of established reputation, the very defects of which, if such there were, he must be content to reproduce.* At any rate, the course actually taken was justified by the result. The translation had indeed little or no sale. It had to wait for, and partly to make, the taste by which it should be appreciated; but by the few who were capable of forming an opinion, a most favourable judgment was pronounced, which in a few years became general. In 1815 the remarkable passage from the scene in the astrological tower,

"For fable is love's world, his home, his birthplace,"

and the nineteen following lines,† were cited by Sir Walter Scott, in his novel of "Guy Mannering," with a tribute of admiration, which the translation must at least share with the German original, -the passage being quoted for the beauty of the language—“ the exquisite expression;" and, indeed, the thought is here largely amplified.

In 1823, this translation was reviewed in "Blackwood," the critic summing up his judgment in the following words :—

"Upon the whole there can be no doubt that this trilogy forms, in its original tongue, one of the most splendid specimens of the tragic art which the world has witnessed; and none at all, that the execution of the version from which we have quoted so largely, places Mr. Coleridge in the very first rank of poetical translators. It is, perhaps, the solitary example of a man of very great original genius submitting to all the labours, and reaping all the honours, of this species of literary exertion." ‡

In 1825, Mr. Carlyle, in his life of Schiller, stated that the two last parts of Wallenstein had been faithfully rendered into English by Mr. Coleridge; and judging of the translation by "many large specimens," he pronounces it to be, with the exception of Sotheby's 66 Oberon, ," the best, indeed the only sufferable translation from the German, with which our literature had then been enriched. In 1835, Mr. Hayward, the excellent translator of the "Faust," expressed himself still more decidedly. "In Mr. Coleridge's magnificent translation-I had almost said poem-of Wallenstein, many lines are wanting; but the fact is, Mr. Coleridge translated from a MS. copy, and the lines in question were added subsequently." He courteously invites him to "supply these deficiencies the only deficiencies-in his work;" and refers with especial admiration to "his rich musical numbers, which often, it has been truly said, affect the heart and ear like a spell."

In 1846 Wordsworth conveyed his opinion in the following terms to a gentleman who had sought his advice respecting a translation of Tasso :

* Yet Mickle, through whose English version the "Lusiad" of Camoens became popular in this country, has taken far greater liberties with the Portuguese than Coleridge with the German original.

+ Piccolomini, Act ii. Scene 3.

This passage was prefixed by Mr. Bohn to his edition of this translation which is included in one of the volumes of his "Standard Library."

Coleridge's translation of Wallenstein is perhaps the best model translation in the English language. It is, in many places, better than the original. The metre is better."*

That such is still the opinion entertained by students of German literature, competent to adjudicate, or at least, to vote upon the question,-for besides an acquaintance with the original language, some sense of rhythm, some feeling for poetic expression, is requisite, may be gathered from the current literature of the day. Thus the anonymous author of the "Eclipse of Faith," evidently an accomplished scholar, refers to the opening scene of the fifth act of the "Death of Wallenstein" in Coleridge's translation, as preferable even to the magnificent original." +

As above intimated, this version, though on the whole not merely faithful, but literal to an extraordinary degree, considering the idiomatic flow of the language and the harmony of the versification, varies in some remarkable particulars from the original. The "Camp of Wallenstein" is not translated, for reasons given in the Author's preface. This is doubtless to be regretted. The two latter plays are differently divided; the first two acts of the "Death of Wallenstein" being subjoined to the "Piccolomini," without any intimation of the change on the part of the translator, who shows himself elsewhere scrupulous in noticing the alterations for which he is himself accountable. About 250 lines are omitted, and there are some additions and substitutions. The precise extent to which these variations are imputable to the translator cannot now be determined. It is admitted that in some cases they are intentional; but it is no less certain that the translation was not made from the printed text, as it now stands. This fact (which has recently been questioned) does not rest on the current tradition merely, nor even upon internal evidence, though it would be difficult to account for some of the omissions, or for many of the substitutions, on any other supposition. In the sixth scene of the fourth act of the "Piccolomini" (the first of the "Death of Wallenstein," in the present German), are several passages quoted with infinite scorn by a reviewer, some two years ago, in the "Westminster Review," as "introduced by Coleridge." Had this indignant censor looked into the first edition, he would have seen a fragment of the original German quoted in a footnote! "Not harmonise with Schiller's genius?" "Not of German make?" It is impossible for critics to be too cautious when there is any likelihood that their decisions may be tested by matter of fact. But in truth, if internal evidence may in anything be trusted, it might have been pronounced with an approach to moral certainty, that these lines could not have been added by any translator whatever ;

Copied from a MS. journal by Capt. Robertson.

↑ "After a pause, an expression of deepest sadness crept over the features, and he murmured, with a slight alteration, two lines from Coleridge's transla tion of that glorious scene in which Wallenstein looks forth into the windy night in search of his 'star,' and thinks of that brighter light of his life which had been just extinguished. Harrington used to say that he preferred the translation of that scene even to the magnificent original itself.”—The Eclipse of Faith, p. 448.

and the same may be said of the other "gratuitous additions” marked for reprobation by the same writer.*

That there are in this translation a certain number of errorsslips of the pen of the most obvious kind-is unquestionable. The wonder is, that in so hasty a performance, the number is so small. And although, as regards the total effect of the work, they are of next to no importance to the English reader, it is well that they should be pointed out. A list of them, taken from the above article, is given at the end of this volume; and the Editor can truly say that he would have been well pleased if he could have made his acknowledgment for the service thus rendered without reserve or qualification.

It is only necessary to add that the plays have been reprinted from the first editions, with the original stage-directions and notes, the omission of which in later editions has led to some misapprehension, and can in no respect be regarded as an improvement. DERWENT COLERIDGE.

ST. MARK'S COLLEGE, CHELSEA,
July, 1852.

*Of the critic's own taste and judgment, the following may be taken as a specimen :

"Again,

The ramparts all around with multitudes,

With peaceful multitudes are thronged, that fill
The air with their rejoicings."

(Such is his translation of the lines

Literally-

Von Menschen sind die Wälle rings erfüllt
Von Friedlichen die in die Lüfte grüszen.

With people are the ramparts round quite filled,
With peaceful ones, who greet into the breezes.)

"The following is Coleridge's construction of this passage-
The ramparts are all filled with men and women-
With peaceful men and women, that send onwards
Kisses and welcomings upon the air,

Which they make breezy with affectionate gestures.

"Making the air 'breezy with affectionate gestures' is what we are quite at a loss to understand. Perhaps it means 'raising the wind.""

De gustibus non est disputandum. The Editor had marked this passage as strikingly beautiful in itself, whatever might be its merits as a translation. But which of the two renderings, neither being literal, is the most faithful? Is it better to evade the meaning, or to expand it?