they to wood went
for
hȳ on holt bugon,
which, whatever be the meaning of ‘bugon,’ is surely a misleading
translation.
The nature of the verse has been sufficiently illustrated by the
quotations from the author’s preface. It would seem from the way in
which the measure is used that it was a kind of second thought, incident
upon the use of a line-for-line translation. It is hard to read the
lines as anything but prose, and, if they appeared in any other form
upon the page, it is to be questioned whether any one would have guessed
that they were intended to be imitative.
_Reception of Garnett’s Translation._
Garnett’s volume had a flattering reception. The book received long and
respectful reviews from the Germans. Professor Child and Henry Sweet
expressed their approbation. The book has passed through four editions.
This cordial welcome has been due in large measure to the increasing
attention given the poem in American colleges and secondary schools.
Being strictly literal, the book has been of value as a means of
interpreting the poem.
[Footnote 1: See supra, p. 71.] [[Arnold]]
[Footnote 2: See supra, p. 79.] [[Lumsden]]