The Oxford Book of Classical Verse in Translation

657 Pages·1995·25.079 MB·English

by  Adrian Poole, Jeremy Maule

THE OXFORD BOOK OF
CLASSICAL VERSE
IN TRANSLATION

THE OXFORD BOOK OF
CLASSICAL VERSE
IN TRANSLATION
Edited by
Adrian Poole and Jeremy Maule
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
1995
Oxford University Prm, Walton Street, Oxford ox2 6oP
Oxford Ne111 York
Athens Au,klantl. Bangkok Bombay
Cal,utta Cape Town Dar es Salaam Delhi
Fwren" Hong Kong Istanbul Kara,hi
Kuala Lumpur Madras Motl.rid Melbourne
Mexi'° City Nairobi Paris Singapore
Taipei Tokyo Toronto
anti. assodatetl. (ompanies in
Berlin Ibatl.an
Oxford is a trade mark of Oxford University Press
Published in the United Stales
by Oxford University Prm In,., Ne111 York
©Adrian Poole anti. Jeremy Maule 1995
All rights reserved. No part of this publi,ation may be reprot/.u(tt/.,
stored in a retrieval system, or trammitted, in any form or by any means,
111ithoul the prior permission in 111riting of Oxford University Prm.
Within the UK, ex"ptions art allo111etl. in respect of any fair dealing for the
purpose of resea"h or private study, or mtirum or revie111, as permitted
under the Copyright, Desitns and Patents Aa, 1988, or in the (Ost of
reprographic reprotl.uaion in auortl.an" 111i1h the terms of the li"nces
issued by the Copyright Li,ensing Agenq. Enquiries '°n"rning
reprotl.uaion outside these terms anti. in other fOUntries should be
sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press,
at the atl.tl.rm above
This book is sold subject lo the 'ontl.ition that it shall not, by 111ay
of trade or othtr111ise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or olhtr111ise d"ulatetl.
111i1hou1 the publisher's prior (Onsenl in any form of binding or 'over
other than that in 111hich it is published and 111i1houl a similar '°ndilion
indutl.int this (ontl.ition being imposed on the subsequent pu"haser
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Data available
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
The Oxford book of 'lassi,al verse in translation
etl.itetl. by Adrian Poole anti. Jeremy Maule.
I. Classical poetry-Translations into English. I. Poole,
Adrian. II. Maule, Jeremy.
PA3622.A2P66 1995 881.008-t/.,20 95-1/871
ISBN <>-u;-2142o<r1
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
Typeset by Jt:SL Composition Lttl., Filey, North Yorkshire
Printed in Great Britain on add-free paper by
The Bath Prm, Avon
CONTENTS
Introduction xx xv
GREEK
PART I: EPIC, HOMERICA
llolller 3
From the Iliad:
I(a) [Invocation] George Chapman, I611 3
I(b) [Invocation] John Dryden, I700 3
2(a) [The goddess intervenes between Achilles and Agamemnon]
John Dryden, I700 3
2(b) [The goddess intervenes between Achilles and Agamemnon]
Alexander Pope, I 7 I 5 5
3 [Olympians] John Dryden, I700 6
4 [Helen and the elders] George Chapman, I611 9
5 [Menelaus wounded] William Cowper, I79I 10
6(a) [Battle] John Ogilby, I66o IO
6(b) [Battle] Alfred Tennyson, wr. I863-4?; pr. posth. I969 I I
7 [Equity in death] Alexander Pope, I7I5 I2
8 From The Last parting of Hector and Andromache
John Dryden, I693 I2
9(a) [Fire-light] George Chapman, I6I I I6
9(b) Specimen of a Translation of the Iliad in Blank Verse
Alfred Tennyson, I872 17
IO [Phrenix pleads with Achilles] Edward, Earl of Derby, I864 I7
11(a) [Sarpedon to Glaucus] George Chapman, I611 18
11(b) Sarpedon's Speech to Glaucus Sir John Denham, 1668 19
11(c) [Sarpedon to Glaucus] Alexander Pope, 1717 20
12 Uuno seduces Jove] Alexander Pope, 1718 21
13 Clash in Arms of the Achaians and Trojans
George Meredith, I891 23
14 From Patroclus's Request to Achilles for his Arms
Thomas Yalden, 1694 23
I5 [Apollo hits Patroclus] Christopher Logue, 1981 24
16 [Thetis and the Nereids] Robert Fagles, 1990 26
17 Achilles Over the Trench Alfred Tennyson, 1877 26
v
CONTENTS
18 [Vulcan forges the armour of Achilles] Alexander Pope, 1720 27
19 [Briseis mourns Patroclus] Edward, Earl of Derby, 18 64 30
2o(a) [Achilles sets out] Alexander Pope, 1720 31
2o(b) [Achilles sets out] Christopher Logue, 1981 33
21(a) [Achilles kills Lycaon] Alexander Pope, 1720 35
21(b) From The Killing of Lykaon Robert Lowell, 1962 36
22 [Hector's flight] Robert Fitzgerald, 1974 37
23 [Priam and Achilles] George Chapman, 161 1 38
24 [Troy mourns] Alexander Pope, 1720 41
From the Odyssey:
25 [Landfall] George Chapman, 1614 43
26 [The palace and gardens of Alcinous] William Cowper, 1791 44
27 [Mars and Venus] William Broome and Alexander Pope, 1725 45
28(a) [Demodocus sings the fall of Troy] George Chapman, 1614 47
28(b) [Demodocus sings the fall of Troy] Robert Fitzgerald, 1961 48
29 [Cyclops and No-Man] George Chapman, 1614 49
30 [Circe] Alexander Pope, 1725 51
31 From A Draft of XXX Cantos Ezra Pound, 1933 53
32 [The shade of his mother] William Neill, 1992 54
33(a) [Penelope weeps] George Chapman, 1615 55
33(b) [Penelope weeps] Robert Fitzgerald, 1961 55
34 [The suitors watch Ulysses string the bow]
Alexander Pope, 1726 55
35(a) [Execution of the faithless maids] Alexander Pope, 1726 56
35(b) The Butchers Michael Longley, 1991 57
36 [Penelope hesitates] Robert Fitzgerald, 1961 58
37 [Man and wife] George Chapman, 1615 59
38 From Agamemnon to Achilles David Constantine, 1983 63
39 Laertes Michael Longley, 1991 64
~~ ~
From Theogony:
40 [Marital misery] Thomas Cooke, 1728 65
From Works and Days:
41(a) [The Golden Age] George Chapman, 1618
41(b) [The Golden Age] Charles Elton, 1812
42 [The Bronze Age] George Chapman, 1618
43 [The Iron Age] Thomas Cooke, 1728
44 [Against sloth] George Chapman, 1618
45 The Anatomy of Winter Robert Garioch, 1956
VI
CONTENTS
The Homeric Hymns
From Hymn to Demeter:
46 [The mother mourns her daughter] Richard Hole, r78r 70
47 From An Hymne to Apollo George Chapman, r 624? 72
From Hymn to Hermes:
48 [The first stringed instrument]
Percy Bysshe Shelley, wr. 1820; pr. posth. 1824 73
49 [Mercury denies stealing Apollo's cattle]
Percy Bysshe Shelley, wr. 1820; pr. posth. 1824 74
From Hymn to Aphrodite:
50 [Invocation] William Congreve, r 7 r o
5 r [Aphrodite and Anchises] William Congreve, r7ro
52 [Aphrodite reveals herself] John D. Niles, 1969
53 [Aurora and Tithonus] William Congreve, r7ro
54 Bacchus, or the Pirates Leigh Hunt, r8r4 79
55(a} Hymn to the Earth
Percy Bysshe Shelley, wr. r8r8; pr. posth. 1839 Sr
55(b) Hymn to the Earth Charles Boer, 1980 82
56 Hymn to Castor and Pollux
Percy Bysshe Shelley, wr. r8r8; pr. posth. 1839
Batrachomyomachia (The Battle of the Frogs and Mice)
57 [The cause of war] Thomas Parnell, r7r7
58 [The mice prepare for battle] William Cowper, r79r
59 [The battle in the balance] Thomas Parnell, r7r7
PART 2: LYRIC AND ELEGIAC, ARCHAIC AND CLASSICAL
Archilochus 9r
60 'That good shield I threw away' Barriss Mills, r 97 5 9r
6r 'There's nothing now' Guy Davenport, 1963 9r
62 ' ... stranded ashore from the sea' Michael Ayrton, 1977 92
Aleman 92
From A Hymn to Artemis of the Strict Observance
Guy Davenport, 1969 92
vii
CONTENTS
64 Alkman's Supper Willis Barnstone, I 962 94
65 'The mountain-summits sleep, glens, cliffs and caves'
Thomas Campbell, I821 94
66 'Short the way, but pitiless' Guy Davenport, I98o 94
Sappho 95
67(a) An Hymn to Venus Ambrose Philips, I711 95
67(b) 'Eternal Aphrodite' Suzy Q Groden, I964 96
67(c) Sapphics Algernon Charles Swinburne, I 866 97
68(a) A Cool Retreat Percy Osborn, I9I9 IOO
68(b) Frae the Aiolic o Psappho Douglas Young, I947 IOO
69 'Some say nothing on earth excels in beauty'
David Constantine, I983 IOO
7o(a) Sapko 's Ode out of Longinus William Bowles, I685 IOI
7o(b) 'Peer of the gods is that man, who'
William Carlos Williams, I958 IOI
7I 'Stars around the luminous moon-how soon they'
John Frederick Nims, I990 I02
72 'Pain penetrates' Mary Barnard, I958 I02
73(a) 'When Death shall close those Eyes, imperious Dame!'
John Addison, I735 I02
73(b) Sapphic Fragment Thomas Hardy, I90I I03
74(a) From Don Juan George Gordon, Lord Byron, I82I I03
74(b) From Epithalamium A. E. Housman, I922 I03
75 One Girl Dante Gabriel Rossetti, I870 I04
76 'Percussion, salt and honey' Guy Davenport, I965 I04
77(a) 'The Moon has veil'd her Silver Light' John Addison, I735 104
77(b) 'The Pleiads now no more are seen' Francis Fawkes, I76o I05
77(c) 'The weeping Pleiads wester'
A. E. Housman, wr. I893; pr. posth. I936 I05
77(d) 'Tonight I've watched' Mary Barnard, I958 105
78 'These are the ashes of Timas' Suzy Q Groden, I964 106
Alcaeus I06
79 From a Drinking Ode of Alcceus Philip Ayres, I687 I06
So 'Wet your lungs with wine-the dogstar rises'
Diane Rayor, I99I I06
Anacreon Io7
8I(a) An Ode of Anacreon Philip Ayres, I687 107
8I(b) 'He has few hairs, only about the ears' David Constantine, I983 107
Vlll
CONTENTS
Phocylides 108
82 On the Problem of Choosing a Wife Willis Barnstone, 1962 108
Simonides 108
83 Flux Willis Barnstone, 1962 108
84 'There is one story' Richmond Lattimore, 1960 108
85 For the Spartan Dead at Thermopylai Peter Jay, 1981 109
Theognis 109
86 Our Course Willis Barnstone, 1962 109
87(a) From Fowr Epigrams frae Theognis o Megara
Douglas Young, 1943 109
87(b) Exile Andrew Miller, 1973 109
Pindar 110
88(a) From The First Olympionique of Pindar Ambrose Philips, 1748 110
88(b) From Olympian I Frank]. Nisetich, 1980 II I
89 From The Second Olympique Ode of Pindar
Abraham Cowley, 1656 112
9o(a) The Fourteenth Olympick Ode Gilbert West, 1749 114
9o(b) Olympian 14 Robert Fagles, 1964 115
91 From The Progress of Poesy Thomas Gray, 1757 116
92 From The First Nemeam Ode of Pindar Abraham Cowley, 1656 117
93 Pindar on the Eclipse of the Sun Thomas Love Peacock, 1806 119
94 Athens Richmond Lattimore, 1960 120
95 Afterlife in Elysium Willis Barnstone, 1962 120
Bacchylides 121
96 From Olympian Ode for Hiero of Syracuse Robert Fagles, 1961 121
97 The P<ran of Bacchylides, On Peace Philip Ayres, 1687 122
Hybrias the Cretan 123
98 Song of Hybrias the Cretan Thomas Campbell, 1821 123
Praxilla 123
99 'Loveliest of what I leave behind is the sunlight'
Richmond Lattimore, 1960 123
lX