^S *&>• >n BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF iii^nrg W. Bags 1S9X .fjr/j.rjf:.. ikp/.v.fj... 9963 Cornell University Library PR4336.J12 Robert Burns in other tongues; a critical 3 1924 013 447 937 M ^ Cornell University VM Library The original of tliis bool< is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013447937 ROBERT BURNS IN OTHER TONGUES PUBLISHED BY JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS. GLASGOW, ^nbUshcrs to the Snibersitji). MACMILLAN AND CO., LONDON AND NEW YORK" Loitdon^ • Sijnpkin, Hamilton and Co. Cainbridge^t Macinillan and Bowes, Edinburgh^ Dotiglas and Foulis. MDCCCXCVI. " , ROBERT BURNS IN OTHER TONGUES A Critical Review of the Translations of the Songs & Poems of Robert Burns i'- ii /; WILLIAM JACKS AUTHOR OF A TRANSLATION OF "NATHAN THE WISE ETC. Glasgow James MacLehose and Sons ^nblisheis to tite Stnibtrsits 1896 Ail rights reserved cc ! Jungst pflUckt' ich einen Wiesenstrauss, Trug ihn gedankenvoll nach Haus ; Da hatten, von der warmen Hand, Die Kronen sich alle zur Erde gewandt, Ich setzte sie in frisches Glas, Und welch ein Wunder war rair das Die Kopfchen hoben sich empor, Die Blatterstengel im grunen Flor, Und allzusammen so gesund, Als stiinden sie noch auf Muttergrund. So war mir's, als ich wundersam Main Lied in fremder Sprache vernahm. Goethe PREFACE. I WAS led into the present, task by seeing now and again in newspapers, reviews of foreign translations of the works of Robert Burns, and by occasionally meeting with specimens of these translations in my wanderings on the Continent. From remarks in these reviews, the great bulk of the translations seemed to be unknown or unre- garded in this country, and I thought it might be useful to students of languages, and gratifying to admirers of the poet, were the various translations, so far as they are known, dealt with in one volume, and thus brought more directly into notice. I have taken generally the same songs and poems throughout, with a view to making a comparison of the power of the different languages in expressing those works. I found, however, that this would lead me far beyond the bounds which I had set myself, and therefore have left that interesting study for some other time, or for some other pen than mine. viii PREFACE It would be hypocritical pedantry to leave it to be assumed that I knew all the various languages which appear here, sufficiently well to enable me to criticize these translations as I have done ; indeed some of them I do not know at all. In such cases I had each retranslated literally into a language which I did understand, and the retranslation was « sent to a native of the particular country for con- firmation and comment, and in this way I was able to make my remarks. On one of my fishing expeditions I met a man who was anxious to do away with all pride of birth, " occasions of excess," and generally to " reform the world " as he termed it. He had a bee, or maybe two, in his bonnet, and I was rather taken with his odd ideas. One day this worthy came upon me as I was reading Angellier's work on our poet. " What's that ? " he asked. " The works of Burns in French, with a very fine " criticism," I replied. Hum ! what dae they ken aboot Burns, and what's the use of reading the works in a foreign langige when ye can read. them ? in yer ain " was the rejoinder. Precisely so ; I felt this was a criticism very likely to be used by more cultured minds than his. My task, however, is not very difficult to defend. It is interesting to show how widely the influence of Burns has spread, and surely it is gratifying to — ; PREFACE IX know that in so many tongues the prayer is said or sung : "Then let us pray that come it may, As come it will for a' that That sense and worth; o'er a' the earth, May bear the gree, and a' that. For a' that, and a' that, It's coming yet, for a' that. That man to man the warld o'er. Shall brothers be for a' that." Then it may be useful to students of foreign languages. In learning such myself I always com- mitted to memory a good deal of prose and poetry in order to impress the spirit and idiom of the language on my mind. A piece from Burns well translated will be a great aid to the student in this respect. Personally, the study has been to me, as I hope it will be to others, profitable as well as pleasant, for we are forced to acquire a clear insight into the thought and meaning of the poet in order to judge of the fidelity of the translation, and we gain much in this way. Let me give a single example. Take the line, "Courts for cowards were erected." Four out of every five readers of Burns to whom I put the question, " Does this mean Royal Courts or " Courts of Law ? replied " Royal Courts, of course." An eminent German translator uses the word — X PREFACE " Gericht," not " Hof." This suggested the ques- tion to me; and I discovered he was right, as the context shows. " A fig for those by Law protected ! Courts for cowards were erected, . When I pointed this out, my friends admitted that they had not thought of it so closely. There are other instances which appear in this work, but this one will show my meaning. With the substitution of the word Dichter for Doctor, I may faithfully use the -words of Wagner to Faust and say " Mit Euch, Herr Dichter, zu spazieren 1st EhrenvoU, und ist Gewinn." * I thought it would be interesting to add photo- graphs of the chief translators, and this I have done, so far as I was able to obtain them. Two indices—one, of the translators, the other, of the poems and songs, are added at the end of the volume. WILLIAM JACKS. Glasgow, January, 1896. ' Goethe's Faust, Act I., Scene 11. CONTENTS. German, PORTRAITS. Robert Burns, ; INTRODUCTION. In estimating the power and excellencies, and, it is to be feared in many instances, the weaknesses and defects in the various translations of the works of our national Scottish poet, it is well to state the point of view from which they have been considered. In this consideration full weight is given to the warning words of Dante, that " No work bound together by the muse can be transferred from its own language to another without losing its sweet- ness and euphony."^ This is undoubtedly true to a large extent, but, like many of the sayings of great thinkers, it is not true absolutely. There are, of course, works which are the glory of their native language, and which it is impossible to convey through the imagery of another tongue without losing the charm which makes them what they are "You seize the flower, its bloom is shed." But, on the other hand, there are some brilliant examples of an opposite result, such as Schlegel's Shakespeare, King John of Saxony's Dante, the Spanish translation of Gil Bias, Sir Theodore Martin's version of Horace, and a few others whilst Sotheby's translation of Wieland's Oberon 'II Couvito, I. 7. XV xvi INTRODUCTION has the reputation of even surpassing the original itself. Great minds are the common property of all nations, and it would bring an eclipse on literature did translations cease. The world of thought would lose its grandeur, and man become poorer in all his being. Emerson almost exhausts this part of the sub- ject in a few well-chosen lines in his Essay on Books : "I do not hesitate to read . all good books in translations. What is really best in any book is translatable—any real insight or broad humane sentiment. Nay, I observe that in our Bible and other books of lofty moral tone it seems easy and inevitable to render the rhyme and music of the original into phrases of equal melody. The Italians have a fling at translators, ' I traditori, traduttori,' but I thank them—I rarely read any Latin, Greek, German, Italian—sometimes not a French book—in the original, which I can procure in a good version. I like to be beholden to the great metropolitan English speech, the sea which receives tributaries from every region under heaven. I should as soon think of swimming across Charles River when I wish to go to Boston as of reading all my books in originals when I have them rendered for me in my mother tongue." These eloquent words form a strong plea in favour of such works as those of Burns being rendered into the languages of other nations, so that every one may enjoy in his own tongue the privilege which Emerson describes. It has struck me during this study that there are two classes of translation — the strictly accurate and the artistic. It is like travelling in a new —: INTRODUCTION xvii country and giving descriptions. The accurate delineator will present things correctly in their natural character and vividness, but the true artist will clothe them with a grace and loveliness which only the eye trained to look into " the heart of things " can appreciate and portray. So with translators ; the accurate one is honest and reliable.