POET, PROPHET, AND MAGICIAN

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 147, 25 June 1927, Page 21

POET, PROPHET, AND MAGICIAN

(By"Ajax.")

;{ Falstaff's 'yow: to f'purge, and leave sack/ and; live clearly, as a nobleman Bhonld';dpn"!has its parallel in my annual Resolution to abjure the tyranny of ttewspapWß and,;pay more heed to the book* that really count. It is repeated every-New Year's Day, broken at Jcast .'half: a; dozen times before ■■ the first week of tne New Year has passed, and? thereafter renewed perhaps once 4; month with the like result till another New Year's Day comes round. '.: One of the reasons—or shall I say "justil fixations'' !—^-for this failure—or may ijT.-y.say-. "apparent failure"?—is that there is a fallacy in the assumed antagonism between newspapers and books. I am not referring to the extraordinarily high literary quality of the beat of the English weeklies, for instance, against which nothing can reasonably be said except that it is too, high for the .evanescent form in which the matter appears, and for ;tho total destruction that awaits 99 per cent, of the output before a. week has passed. The dailies naturally cannot reach the same standard as their more deliberate fellows, but it astonishes me to find how much even of one's literary education is directly contributed by the newspaper, whether-daily or weekly,, and how much more"- of it comes indirectly from the same sources through the stimulus which, they provide

■;:;. -"'.:{.9' ,-■:?■•::'.-•'-'•.•••■.' •' ■•■ } -.- -f If during the last week I have been paying more attention to". Virgil. than tlurihg any previous "week since my examination days -vyere" over, the resumption ;of my education is entirely due to the iMilan correspondent of "The" Times,' *, - and 'the article which " The Post" based upon 'hisletter- a week Sgo. The service is s none the less valuable because is one "not of introduction -bnt.,! of reintroduetion, for a reintroduption. after sp niany years is a new introduction to' a very large extent. As the pathetic story told by " The Times'' correspondent .shows, the preparations for the'statue of Virgil which was unveiled at Mantua on the 21st April \?ere begun just 50 years, ago. "The statue which was to have been ready for the 19th .centenary of the poet's death'is.no less than ,46 years latej It ,i?; a shock to find that the period for ■pjfhichiny s study of Virgil, has been in--terrupted,.is" .almost as longv ; Despite a mncninore liberal supply of CTibs,'the' iinguistic difficulties are far severer than''they 3-were,.but in every other respect the man inevitably sees and feels more/than the boy and is disposed to fonder that the boy could learn so much and know so little. Every readier of Shakespeare has of course the same experience. : Toiith is the proper ■ijnie for the learning' of the text, but •with advancing years' and widening experience every fresh perusal will add aew meaning. :..'■■< .'.

vj For schoolboys, the JEneid has the serious disqualification of tedium. They Snd its" hero ■ painfully tearful, pious, nnheroie, and even unsportsmanlike, for he seems to. be quite unable,, to : play the game if an appeal to his goddessmother will--get; him' .out of a'yftght place. Horace 'Walpdie's definition of epic poetry as "the; art of.being tiresomo in verse" would command the entire approval of these young sportsmen, and to/Sir.' Mac Kail's comment that .". there is no kind of poetry, then b'rnow,; on which the same criticism, could not be -passed" they would be' entitled to retort that nothing of such appalling length as the iEnoid (nearly 10,000 lines) had ever' come their way. The story of the dying Virgil's request to his friends that they would bring him the manuscripts of the ".<pSneia" in. order that he might burn it must have'been heard by mpny generations of schoolboys with deep, regret; that the request was not complied with. The simplicity of . Homer—a simplicity which, -fortunately for them, distinguishes hig style as well as his outlook —and his frank delight in battle and adventure adapt him much better to the boyish taste. Yet by a strange chance, as I!write, a note of Professor R. S. Conway/s catches my eyo which shows that'even in the kind of thing that a 3'oungster can appreciate ■ the changes introduced:.,by Virgil were not all in the direction of softening and. sophis-. tication. The ".SSneid'' closes with the death of the brave but cruel Turnus at,the hands of tineas. "The chill of death relaxed his frame, arid moaning, his spirit fled indignant through the darkness;?' is Professor Conway's translations of' the concluding words, and his" note is as follows'•—•■■■•:

The-Homeric warrior dies ''moan-

ing dyer his own, fate," but not "indignant.'* Only Virgil.has. room for 'this touch; Observe .Hia.t the ethi«al.; colour of 'the word

["iiidignata"] is even, strongeif in. Latin than in English, because of its close association with '' dignus "and "dignarL" ■>•'. "■'.' . ■ • ■■ •;*' . : • *■■■•■ •■.

My;.' quotation is taken from Professon Cohway's essay'on "The Messianic Idea in.Virgil." Throughout the Middle Ages the fame of Virgil was even greaterC as" a prophet 1 of Christianity and a magician than, as' a poet. The origin; ;qf : this extraordinary development was the Fourth Eclogue, written t in' thp-' expectation of' the. birth of a child w,ho was to herald a new order. The opening lines "of thiß singular prophecy are translated by. James Bhoades as follows:^—

Now.' the • last age by Cumae 's Sibyl •ing:--;'.' -.". ■,—. ;■• ■ , ' . ■:..■■-

Has come and gone and the majestic roll Of circling centuries begin" rinnw: Justice returns, returns old Saturn's reign, -With a new breed of men sent down from Heaven. ■•Only do thou, at the boy's birth in whom -The iron shall cease, the golden laco arise, , ''BefrUnd him, chasto Lucina; 'tis thine own Apollo reigns. The importance attached to tho prophecies of the Sibyl in the Middle Ages is indicated by her being classed with the Psalmist in one of the greatest hymns of that ..period, or indeed of any period—the "Dies Irae," which:is assigned with apparent certainty to the Franciscan Order, and with high probability to Thomas of Celano, one of<the saint's intimates and biographers: —

Dies irae, dies ilia Solvet Saeclum in favilla,

Testo David et Sibylla} Tliis remarkable compliment to the Sibyl does not appear in Sir Walter Scott's paraphrase of the hymn, but in one of the current versions it is accurately reproduced as follows:—

That day of -wrath, that dreadful day Shall the whole world in ashes lay,

As David and the Sibyl say

; Virgil was not associated with this side of the Sibyllino prophecies, but the parallel to Isaiah in the passage quoted is very close, and in some of the details that: follow it is closer still: — Untended, will the she-goats of them-

selves then bring home Their udders swollen with milk, while

flocks afield B'naU »f th« monstrous lion have no few.

Thy very cradle shall pour forth for ■ thee . . i . ■ Caressing flowers. The serpent too

shall die. If the resemblance to Isaiah VII. and XI. are, so close that some scholars still believe that Virgil must have read the chapters, while others suppose that when, as another Latin poet said, "the Orontes flawed into the Tiber," it must lave brought believers in the .Messianic idea into contact with Virgil, need we wonder that in a less critical age he was credited with foreseeing the same event which the Hebrew prophet had foreseen} Virgil at any rate became "the prophet of Christ," the guide of Dante in two divisions of the other world, the conductor of others to Christianity, and a popular hero of miraculous powers. When, therefore^ a ' "Times'* .correspondent tells us that at the unveiling of t}ie statue "the memory of Virgil received tKe double homage of the Scholars and the peasants,'* the.question suggests itself whether the .enthusiasm of the peasants may have teeii'stimulated by -any: survival from the faith of the Miudle Ages? As Comparetti, writing more than thirty years ago, welcomed a faint trace of the tradition in the neighbourhood of Naples : where the poet had resided towards the close of his life, but said that it had always been weaker near his birthplace, it is to be feared that the tempting suggestion must be dismissed;.

The wide interval between the scholar and the peasant, the idealist and the realist,, is illustrated by a comical yet touching story told by the; Milan correspondent of the ' • Times,'' a propos of his visit „to Pietole, the little; village near Mantua which is supposed to be the actual birthplace of the poet. Pietole had anticipated Mantua in erecting a statue to Virgil r-';<a monument of cast iron formed from material offered by a local merch-ant/"-and possibly knocked into shape by the village blacksmith. To do homage at -this shrine came a few yearsi ago "the -most Virgilian of .modern poet's, the' late.-: Giovanni Pascoli." - He had his -'-'' Georgicß '-'in 'his pocket, and walked to'the feet of the statue. As, a few boys arid peasants were standing there looking inquisitively at him, he asked them to sit down, and then patiently began to read to them, and to translate 'from the Second Book of the > '"Georgics" the praises of rustic life. When he came to the great ■verso,.: ; . v ■•■ ','.-.-.- „'..-• ■,:: Et patrens operum exiguoque adsueta juventus : (A youth-of labour patient,"' need-: ,"'./.., inured), ■■".".; . and had explained how the poet had exalted and/praised, as an example to be followed, the life of the youths of ancient times, who worked hard and patiently and were content; with but; little, he shopped to see the vcf- . feet of his: words, and . asked his 'small audience, "Do you appreciate the nobleness of your Virgil? Bo you understand now what sort of man he was?"' A:boy, no doubt interpreting the feelings of all '-'present, ..touched'his forehead with put stretched finger, and replied:— ."Dotty!" Poor. Pascoli closed his

.'."'•.b00k.'... '.' .-■'.. '■ .'. . ."■ " ■■'. To show that the .poor man who is, no longer here to defend himself was not entirely devoid .of intelligence, I will quote the best available verso translation of the. passage. It is that of Mr. Rl D. filackmore, jwhp, describes himself on toe title-page as "Author of •Lorna Doone,' etc," and in- a note as "a lover of gardening and a. dabbler in poetry," and appears to have had also a sufficiency of scholarship:— ■ s

Oh, happy farmers) oyerblest, I wis, If they could only realise their bliss! For whom the earth, away from jang- .;.'., ling strife, In just abundance sheds the gifts of

.'.. life. "^•• i ..-^.-.. ■;}-.;■:. :.-■;•.'.-.:..., ■>■," Although no haughty castle-gates have pour'd v- ■■ . A flood .of "serfs, to. hail their risen

-■ ■ lord;:.;;. ■ • :>..,"-. ■'■■■■ , .-■' Nor : gloat they on buhl' columns, as they passer. ;.;'.! . Robes shot -frith gold, and- Ephyrean

■' ..•./.'brass;:.(.«,., .■■ . " ■ : But'yebman's ease, and broad 1 lauds of

:-:teppse, ■ :, '/■ ■ „...- . And. grots, "and lakes, where living ' water flows, • '-. ■' Cool- Tempers glade, and-sleep beneath

_.■> ' the tj^esy :> -,-■■; ■ . :; And lowing kirie—no lack; hayo they

of .these. . ; , Here are the woodlands,' and the wild

beast's lair, And youth robust, content with humble

•■ .;:fare;..: ; ■, • ' :".":..- ' . .'• God. hath' Ms honour^ holy ago its

' charm; : - ■'..■". ■;■'.■'"" ■:'-.' When Justice fled this world,of Bin .and

;:jn'atm,'' :' ■'.... .'.'■.- ■•,'...■ - She left her latest footprint on the

.. /farm.- \-. '.""..' ■■'„ " . i- ■„ ■ •;.'. •■'.'■ It is a beautiful picture of Elysian bliss, but it may be inferred! from the Primu Minister's estimate that if I were to declare it applicable to more than 85 per cent, of our farmers today, some of them might be tempted to imitate the rudeness of 'the. Pietola boy. and exclaim, "Dottyl"!