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Leader (1850-1860), 20th July 1850, Edition Town of 1, Page 400, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      Critics are not the legislators , but the judges and police of ^ literature They do not make laws-they interpret and try to enlorce them— Edinburgh lievietv .

      Untitled Article

      Poets who have greater genius than our prosaic a « -e can appreciate , who have thews and sinews of such irresistible vigour that they cannot help outstripping the laggard Time , and thus remain unhappily so far ahead of their age , that their poems do not sell—a phenomenon * we assure you , of very frequent occurrence—will , we fear * considerably abate their admiration of Alfred Ten * c * son . they ever felt any ) on hearing thai ; In Memoridm has already reached the second edition . What ! a second edition in a few weeks ? Ah ! it suited the corhrrion run of men , " it was adapted to their capacities .... M _ ¦ ^ J rr % , ft does not

      To be serious , Tennyson ' s success sufficiently prove that if a poem , or volume of poems , rise above the accomplished mediocrities of verse which so many of us now feel that we cati write—if it carry with it the sacred burden of genuine experience sublimated into beauty—if , in short , it be a poem , not the expression of feelings the writer has hot felt , in accents learned from others , then there is as great a public awaiting it as ever awaited " Christabel , " " the Revolt of Islam , " or the " Eve of St . Agnes ? " does it not prove that the old complaint about the indifference of the public should be turned against the indifference of

      the poets ? Apropos of Tennyson , gossip saith that a cottage hear one of the " Westmoreland lakes has been placed at his service ; and that with Jiis bride he contemplates removing there . May it be the inspiration of many new poems ! May it prove an incitement to work , for he is the most indolent poet we have heard of ! In AVordsworth ' s neighbourhood a new impulse may be given him . By the way , Wordsworth ' s autobiographical poem is announced as on the eve of publication : its title—The Prehlde : Growth of a Poet ' s Mindpromises something in his best style ; but we shall soon be able to give a more precise account .

      Untitled Article

      In France the discussion of the new laws against the press excites universal attention : that clause in the bill which insists on the writers of religious and political articles singing them with their names in full has called forth from Jules Janin one of hia incomparable buffooneries in last Monday ' s feuilleton , in which he assumes that J . J . has been an impenetrable mask : concealed by it he could be as malicious , as satirical , as plain-spoken as he pleased . Nobody knew J . J . ; nobody thought of

      J . J . ; that mysterious' entity could sit out plays dull even to atrocity , and not blush to say so . But now he must avow publicly that he , Jules Janin , actually did listen for so many hours to such appalling stupidity ! He declares that henceforward all hia audacity , all his wit , all his verve , will depart . And he addresses himself thus : " Lorsque tu etais masque " , moins les dents , tu mordais tout le monde , tu ne respectais personne , tu argumentais , tu de ' clamais .... lVJais demasqud te voila bctecommc on ne Test plus , et sot a l ' avenant . "

      Looking at the matter seriously , we see nothing in the clause to excite such opposition . If a man is not prepared to stand by his opinions he is unworthy to hold them . The fear which screens itself behind the anonymous helps to strengthen the party feared . Were men to avow their convictions the strength of each party would soon be found ; and any mode of forcing men to speak out their thoughts , instead of merely whispering them

      over the dinnor-lable , would be a decided gain to the cause of freedom . At present men hold back because they stand alone . No one will take up a musket , and rush into the street to overturn singlehanded a despotic govcriunvnt ; but if he sees his fellow-citizens ready to second him he steps boldly out . The French Government , under the absurd notion of silencing opposition , are forcing the opposition to ascertain its strength !

      Pikhum Napolison Bonaparte has just published an interesting pamphlet , Un Mois en Afrique , giving a rapid sk ^ Urh of his adventures . Quinet ' s Kuse ' ujinnvnt dn , Peitple is making a stir , and has already reached n second edition . ( ikraru dis Nkrval hasreprintid his I ' i'inmes du Cttire and Fvmmfs du Idbtm from the livvue des Deux Mondes , and they form a charming collection of scenes of eastern life , dressed up fur effect , no doubt , but li . ii . w ! hv' u-i aan ; ic ..: fi > rtlu ; l .

      In Germany there is a rumour that the first volume of an autobiography of the Danish poet Adam ( Ehlenschlager is to appear concurrently with the Danish edition ; it will contain the history of his youth , and of his residence in Germany . His name is sufficiently known here to make the announcement interesting . By a clerical error an absurd statement crept into our last week ' s summary , viz ., that Eichendorf reproaches Grun and Lenau with not being " liberal" enough—it should have been exactly the reverse !

      Untitled Article

      THE DRAMAS OF AESCHYLUS . The Lyrical Dramas of JEschylus , from the Greek ; translated into English Verse . By John btuart Blackie , Frolesjor of Latin in the Marischal College , Aberdeen . £ vols ; J . W . Parke * . Lyuical l > RA » tAs ! and why not Tragedies ? My dear sir , for the best of reasons : —^ Eschylus did not write tragedies ( meaning thereby whatever form of dramatic art you may picture to yourself as expressed in the word ) ; or , if you are startled by this statement * let it

      be presented conversely , let us say that our tragedies are not tragedies at all , they are not Goal-Songs ( rpaj ^ ia . is a goat-song ) , but stories in action . Modern perversion of language , aided by imperfect criticism , has , however , so consecrated the name of tragedy to our modern drama , that , to rise above confusion and equivoque ; it is desirable at once to cease calling the Greek dramas by that name . Professor Blackie has done more service by his bold departure from conventional language in this instance than will at once be recognised ; the name stands in lieu of the dissertation which it sums up , and will carry with it in the

      memory all the leading ideas of that dissertation ; it points to a new fact , and opens a new world of critical appreciation . The «• Essay on the Genius and Character of Or reek 1 'ragedy" prefixed to this translation is both luminous and comprehensive ; but the main characteristic which it brings into a distinctness we do not rememto have seen in other writers , is the predominance of the Lyrical element . " The word tragedy , " as he says , « l when analyzed , bears upon its face , arid in the living Greek tongue proclaims loudly to the present hour , that the essential character of this species of poetry was lyrical , and not at all dramatic or tragic , in the modern sense of the word . " Indeed , unless we

      look at the dramas of -ZEschylus ( Sophocles and Euripides are more like Shak > peare and Hacihe ) as jlyuical siMiCTACLES , we shall never rightly understand them . TlK-y were but the development of the mythic element which the dithyrams always contained . From the singing chorus , the solo or leader began to step into greater prominence ; but Professor Bla . ; kie has given us the genesis of the drama , and we will quote his words : —

      •• Let us suppose that the leader of a chorus , trained to sing hymns iu honour of the gods , is « oing ^ to make them sing publicly a hymn in honour of Ztv <; ihiaws—Jove , in his benign character as the friend of the friendless , and the protector of suppliants . Instead of a vague general supplication in the abstract style to which we are accustomed in our forms of prayer , what could be more natural than for a susceptible and lively Greek to conceive the persons of the chorus as engaged in some particular act of supplication , well known in the sacred traditions of the people , whose worship he was leading , and to put words in their mouths suitable to such a

      situation ? This done , we have at once drama , according to the etymological meaning of the word ; that is to say , a represented action . The chorus represents certain persons , we shall say , the daughters of Danaus , fugitives from their native Libya , arrived on the stranger coast of Argolis , and in the act of presenting their supplications to their great celestial protector . Such an exhibition , if we will not permit , it to be called by the substantive name of drama , is , nt all events , a dramatized hymn ; an ode so essentiall y dramatic iu its character that it requires but the addition of a single person besides the chorus to form a complcic action ; for an action , like a colloquy , is

      ncccss'iiil y between two parties—meditation , not , action , being the natural business of a solitary man . Now , the single person whose presence is required to turn this dramatizi'd hymn into a proper lyrical drama is already given . The leader of the chorus , or the person to whom the singing band belonged , and who superintended its exhibitions , is such a person . lie has only , in the case supposed , to take upon himself the character of the person , the king of the Argivcs , to whom the supplication is made , to indicate , by word or gesture , the feelings

      with which he receives their address , and finally to accept or nject tlu-ir suit ; this makos a complete action , and a lyrical drama already exists in all essentials , exactly such as we read the okcleton of it at the present hour , in the Suppliants of JEsehylus . To go a step beyond this , and add ( as has been done in our play ) another actor to represent the party pursuing the fugitives , is only to bring the situation already existing to a more violent issue , and not essentially to alter the character of the exhibition . Much less will the mere appendage of n t'iiid \> or director to the main body of the ciiorus , in

      the shape of a father , brother , or other accessory character j change the general effect of the spectacle . The great central mass which strikes the eye , and tills ear and heart with its harmonious appeals , remains still what it was , even before the leader of the band took a part in the lyric exhibition . The dramatized lyric , and the lyrical drama , differ from one another only , according to the simile already used , as a tree with two or three branches differs from a tree with a simple stem . The main body and stamiaa are the same in each . The Song is the soul of both . " To show how great the proportion of song is in the dramas which remain , Professor Blackie says : —

      * ' We shall now examine one or two of the -dEschylean pieces by a simple arithmetical process , and see how essentially the lyrical element predominates in their construction . Taking Wellauer ' s edition , and turning tip the Suppliants , I find that that play , consisting altogether of 1055 lines , is opened by a continuous lyric strain of 172 lines . Then we have dialogue , in part of which the chorus uses lyric measures to the extent of 22 lines .. Then follows a short choral song of only 20 lines . The next chorus comprises 76 lines , and the next 70 . After this follows another dialogue ; in which the chorus , being in great mental agitatio ' n , use , according

      to the uniform practice of JEschylus , lyric measures to the extent altogether of 20 verses . Then follows another regular choral hymn of 47 lines . After that a violent lyrical altercation between the chorus and a new actor , to the amount of 74 lines , in the most impassioned lyrical rhythm . Then follow 14 lines of anapaests ; arid the whole concludes with a grand lyrical finale of 65 lines : altogether 580—considerably more than the half of the piece by bare arithmetic , and equal to two-thirds of it fully , if we consider how much , more time the singing s

      with the musical accompaniments , must have occupied than the simple declamation . No more distinct proof could be required how essentially the account of Diogenes Laertius is right ; how true it is that the choral part of the JEschylean drama is both its body and its soul , while the dialogic part , to use the technical language of Aristotle ' s days , was , in fact , only an ineicroSiov ( from which our English word episode ) or thing thrown in between the main choral acts of the representation , for the sake of variety to the spectators , and , as the writer says , of rest to the singers . "

      But the Professor should have paused ere he accused Aristotle of having an incorrect idea of the iEschylean drama—that incorrectness being the assertion , " JEschylus abridged the chorus and made the dialogue the principal part of tragedy . " Aristotle ' s authority is of the very greatest weight ; moreover Aristotle ' s language is very improperly translated—there is some difficulty in the words rov Koyov tcpurayuvKXT ^ v irctpea-KcvziG'e— but we have no doubt whatever that Tmining's translation ( given above ) is altogether erroneous , and that it should b « altered to this : — ' iEschylus made the functions of the chorus fewer Cr } Kxrraae ) and furnished the

      protagonistic dialogue " ( or made the dialogue protagonist " ) ; which is simply saying that the protagonist , first actor , was by yl ^ chylus made to speak and not to sing . To quit this discussion , let the reader imagine a solemn hymn to Bacchus expanding into a solemn spectacle where everything was on a scale of vastv . r >^ o anri crm nrlour f-nmnnpnsurat . fi with the wants ness and grandeur commensurate with the wants

      of an audience of many thousands , and where everything consequently was disposed in masses for effect , and he will see how the Greek drama naturally grouped itself into those striking tableaux , which not only gathered together the straggling details , and placed them in one fasciculus before the eye , but also afforded fine climacteric points for choral effect . Thus , unlike the modern drama , its object was to select

      a myth which admitted of this duplex treatmentchoral and statuesque—a subject which could bo laid out in fine groups , and which could carry with it all the feelings of the audience . We fancy that , if the reader keeps these two objects in his eye , he will form atota . ly different notion of the Greek drama from the one he has hitherto been accustomed to entertain ; and , therefore , Professor Blackie materially assists his own translation by bringing out the lyrical characteristic as he does in his essay . Having thus prepared his reader ' s mind for the true understanding of the plays of JEschylus , Professor Bluekio then docs his utmost to present the plays

      themselves in an intelligible form ; and this laborious task was called for by the miserable Misrepresentations which have hitherto passed current , bearing the signature of Potter . To say that Professor Blackie has given us an English version commensurate with the power , the rolling thunder of music , the gnurled and twisted extravagance of diction , the primitive naivete and gvotesqucness of the original , would bo to say that which , if true , no one would believe ; but wo can honestly say that , beaiing in mind , the exigencies of fidelity on the one hand , with thoso of poetry on the other , he has produced a work which not unfitly represents the Greek original , and trans-

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      Untitled Article

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  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), July 20, 1850, page 400, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1847/page/16/