Class, . O.-.^^3 Book_ Gopyright]^? COPmiGHT DEPOSm / NATIONAL EPICS /JB^ BY KATE MILNER RABB ,^>( kv-j-bl CHICAGO A. C. McCLURG AND COMPANY 1896 1T3 Copyright By a. C. McClurg and Co. A.D. 1896 TO MY MOTHER. NATIONAL EPICS PREFACE, This volume is intended for an introduction to the study of the epics. While the simplicity and directness of the epic style seem to make such a book unnecessary, the fact that to many persons of literary tastes some of these great poems are inac- cessible, and that to many more the pleasure of exploring for themselves " the realms of gold " is rendered impossible by the cares of business, has seemed sufficient excuse for its being. Though the beauty of the original is of necessity lost in a con- densation of this kind, an endeavor has been made to preserve the characteristic epithets, and to retain what Mr. Arnold called " the simple truth about the matter of the poem." It is believed that the sketch prefacing each story, giving briefly the length, versi- fication, and history of the poem, will have its value to those readers who have not access to the epics, and that the selections following the story, each re- counting a complete incident, will give a better idea of the epic than could be formed from passages scat- tered through the text. The epic originated among tribes of barbarians, who deified departed heroes and recited legends in praise of their deeds. As the hymn developed, the 4 PREFACE. chorus and strophe were dropped, and the narrative only was preserved. The word *' epic " was used simply to distinguish the narrative poem, which was recited, from the lyric, which was sung, and from the dramatic, which was acted. As the nation passed from childhood to youth, the legends of the hero that each wandering minstrel had changed to suit his fancy, were collected and fused into one by some great poet, who by his power of unification made this written epic his own. " This is the origin of the Hindu epics, the '' IHad and the '' Odyssey," the " Kalevala," the '• Shah- Nameh," "Beowulf," the " Nibelungen Lied," the " Cid," and the '' Song of Roland." The conditions for the production of the primitive epic exist but once in a nation's growth. Its later epics must be written on subjects of national import- ance, chosen by the poet, who arranges and embel- lishes his material according to the rules of the primitive epic. To this class belong the **^neid," the " Jerusalem Delivered," and the " Lusiad." Dante's poem is broader, for it is the epic of med- iaeval Christianity. Milton likewise sought ** higher argument" than " Wars, hitherto the only argument Heroic deemed," and crystallized the religious beliefs of his time in " Paradise Lost." The characteristics both of the primitive and the modern epic are their uniform metre, simplicity of construction, concentration of action into a short time, and the use of episode and dialogue. The main difference lies in the impersonality of the PREFACE, 5 primitive epic, whose author has so skillfully hidden himself behind his work that, as some one has said of Homer, " his heroes are immortal, but his own exist- ence is doubtful." Although the historical events chronicled in the epics have in every case been so distorted by the fancy of the poets that they cannot be accepted as history, the epics are storehouses of information con- cerning ancient manners and customs, religious be- liefs, forms of government, treatment of women, and habits of feeling. Constructed upon the noblest principles of art, and pervaded by the eter'nal calm of the immortals, these poems have an especial value to us, who have scarcely yet realized that poetry is an art, and are feverish from the unrest of our time. If by the help of this volume any reader be enabled to find a portion of the wisdom that is hidden in these mines, its pur- pose will have been accomplished. My thanks are due to Mr. John A. Wilstach for the use of selections from his translation of the " Divine Comedy;" to Prof. J. M. Crawford, for the use of selections from his translation of the " Kalevala; " to Henry Holt & Co., for the use of selections from ** " Rabillon's translation of La Chanson de Roland ; to Roberts Brothers, for the use of selections from " " Edwin Arnold's Indian Idylls ; to Prof J. C. Hall, for the use of selections from his translation of " Beo- wulf; " and to A. C. Armstrong & Son, for the use of selections from Conington's Translation of the " ^neid." The selections from the ** Iliad " and the " Odyssey " are used with the permission of and by o PREFACE, special arrangement with Houghton, Mifflin & Co., publishers of Bryant's translations of the *' Iliad" and the " Odyssey." Special thanks are due to Miss Eliza G. Browning of the Public Library of Indianapolis, to Miss Florence Hughes of the Library of Indiana University, and to Miss Charity Dye, of Indianapolis. K. M. R. Indianapolis, Ind., September, 189$. CONTENTS. Page The Hindu Epic : The Ramayana 1 1 ^ y The Hindu Epic ; The Maha-bharata 29 The Greek Epic : The Iliad . T^ 53 ^ vVT'he Greek Epic : The Odyssey 75 The Finnish Epic : The Kalevala 99 The Roman Epic: The ^neid K 125 \y/ The Saxon Epic: Beowulf : \^\ \/ ' ^he German Epic: The Nibelungen Lied ... 169 ' v^j^JVThe French Epic: The Song of Roland . 193 The Persian Epic: The Shah-nameh ..... 213 v^. The Spanish Epic : The Poem of the Cid . 237 \/ ."*. /^"The Italian Epic: The Divine Comedy . 257 ^^The Italian Epic: The Orlando Furioso . 291 v The Portuguese Epic: The Lusiad : 319 \/ 1,>The Italian Epic : The Jerusalem Delivered . 343 y/ ". The English Epic: Paradise Lost 365 The English Epic: Paradise Regained L^. 385 SELECTIONS. From the RamAYANA : Translator Page The Descent of the Ganges .... Milman 21 The Death of Yajnadatta „ 23 From the Maha-bharata : Savitri; or, Love and Death ... Arnold 41 The Great Journey „ . 46 From the Iliad : Helen at the Scaean Gates .... Bryant (^1 The Parting of Hector and Andromache „ . 70 From the Odyssey: The Palace of Alcinoiis Bryant 92 The Bending of the Bow „ . 93 From the Kalevala: Ilmarinen's Wedding Feast . Crawford 113 The Birth of the Harp „ • 118 From the ^neid : Nisus and Euryalus Conington 141 From Beowulf : GrendeFs Mother Hall i6r From the Nibelungen Lied : How Brunhild was received at Worms Lettsom 183 How Margrave Riideger was slain . „ 187 From the Song of Roland : The Horn Rabillon 204 Roland's Death 208 lO SELECTIONS. From the Shah-Nameh : Translator Page The Rajah of India sends a Chess- board to Nushirvan Robmson . 225 Zal and Rudabeh „ . 229 From the Poem of the Cid : Count Raymond and My Cid . Onnsby . 248 My Cid's Triumph „ ... 250 From the Divine Comedy : Count Ugolino Wilsfach . 286 Buonconte di Montefeltro ... „ . 288 Beatrice descending from Heaven . „ . 289 The Exquisite Beauty of Beatrice „ . 290 From the Orlando Furioso: The Death of Zerbino .... Rose ... 311 From the Lusiad : Inez de Castro Mickle ... 332 The Spirit of the Cape „ • - 2i?,^ From the Jerusalem Delivered: Sophronia and Olindo Wiffen . 356 From Paradise Lost : Satan 381 Apostrophe to Light 383 From Paradise Regained: The Temptation of the Vision of the Kingdoms of the Earth 395 NATIONAL EPICS. THE RAMAYANA. " He who sings and hears this poem continually has attained to the highest state of enjoyment, and will finally be equal to the gods." THE Ramayana, the Hindu Iliad, is variously ascribed to the fifth, third, and first centuries b. c, its many interpolations making it almost impossible to determine its age by internal evidence. Its authorship is unknown, but according to legend it was sung by Kuga and Lava, the sons of Rama, to whom it was taught by Valmiki. Of the three versions now extant, one is attributed to Valmiki, another to Tuli Das, and a third to Vyasa. Its historical basis, almost lost in the innumerable episodes and grotesque imaginings of the Hindu, is probably the con- quest of southern India and Ceylon by the Aryans. The Ramayana is written in the Sanskrit language, is divided into seven books, or sections, and contains fifty thousand lines, the English translation of which, by Griffith, occupies five volumes. The heroj Rama, is still an object of worship in India, the route of his wanderings being, each year, trodden by devout pilgrims. The poem is not a mere Hterary monument, — it is a part of the actual religion of the Hindu, and is held in such reverence that the mere reading or hearing of it, or certain passages of it, is believed to free from sin and grant his every desire to the reader or hearer. ^ 12 NATIONAL EPICS. Bibliography and Criticism, the Ramayana. G. W. Cox's Mythology and Folklore, 1881, p. 313; John Dow- son's Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology, Religion, Geography, History, and Literature, 1879 ; Sir William Jones on the Literature of the Hindus (in his Works, vol. iv.) ; Maj.- Gen. Vans Kennedy's Researches into Hindu Mythology, ii., 1831 ; James Mill's History of British India, 1840, vol. pp. 47-123; F. Max Miiller's Ancient Sanskrit Literature, Literature, 1859; E. A. Reed's Hindu 1891, pp. 153-271 ; Albrecht Weber's History of Indian Literature, 1878, pp. India, vols., 191-195 ; J. T. Wheeler's History of 4 1876, vol. ii. ; Sir Monier Williams's Indian Wisdom, 1863, Indian Epic Poetry, 1863 ; Article on Sanskrit Literature in Ency- clopedia Britannica ; R. M. Cust's The Ramayana : a Sanskrit Epic (in his Linguistic and Oriental Essays, 1880, p.