A Pathetic Story.

Bush Advocate, Volume XI, Issue 860, 18 November 1893, Page 6

A Pathetic Story.

A flattering proof to Englishmen of the? widespreading fame throughout the worldsof the work of our late Poet Laarenter waa lately given at Milan. A disous,sion hud arisen amongst the learned^ ' societies of that city ' concerning, the--number of students of . English literature capable of reading and translating the great English poet into elegant Italian. In order" to arrive at a solution of the question, a lead- ' ing Milanese journal, the •'Corriere dellsSera," offered a prize for the besttranslation of tour lines from* ' Tennyson's "Princess." The prize wae* not to be given in money, but to take the* shape of a pair of bedutifnl Japanese vases,, whioh were on exhibition for some time at the offioo of the journal. The number of? competitors was no less than 720.. The prize was awarded to Ghislandoni, the ■ oldest poet in the country, who had:. ; earned a meagre, attenuated poetical fame by furnishing tue libretti for Verdi's operas. Poor Ghislandoni, for whom a great public: triumph had been prepared, and a gala reception at the Soala in his honor, lived, but a short time, however, after the attainment of his success. Overcome by the unwonted enthusiasm his poetic illustration of Tennyson had produced, he Bank under the> weight of the responsibility of his long-re-tarded fame, and died with his gaze fixed io> admiration and delight upon the twoJapanese vases which had been placed by his- • bedside on the very day of the award. ' " Birmingham Post."