SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
[Under this heading we notice such Books of the week as have not been reserved for review in other forms.]
The Cynthia of Propertius, Book I. Done into English Verse by Seymour Greig Tremenheere. (Macmillan and Co. 4s. net.)— Mr. Tremenheere has, we think, achieved a decided success in a very difficult task. Propertius is one of the hardest of the Latins ; his learning or pedantry makes him more than commonly inac- cessible. Yet this is an uncommonly readable translation. Not the least of its merits is the really admirable ingenuity with which the elegiac couplet with a maximum of thirty-one syllables and a minimum of twenty-five is compressed into a couplet limited to sixteen. Take this specimen from IL, "Quid iuvat ornate " :— " Life of my life, why court applause In fluttering folds of Coan gauze, With Syrian scent on plaits and curls And all the gauds of foreign girls? Why mar the charms your person bears And dazzle by a huckster's wares ? Yom• looks, believe me, need no spice ; Love, nude himself, hates artifice. What beauties e'er with Nature's vied ?— Wild ivy, meadows gaily pied, Lone dells with beauteous berries fraught, Clear streams that find their way untaught, Bright shores with native gems self-strewn, And birds that never learnt a tune I" Or this from XIV., "Nam qnis divitiis" " Who cares for Wealth, with Love at strife ? If Venus frown, I prize not life. She can o'erpower the stalwart prince, She makes the hardiest peasant wince ; She dares to scale with stealthy tread The onyx stair, the Inlaid bed, And make young Dives toss and fret Despite his damask coverlet. Let her but smile, and I'll not care One Jot for king or millionaire I"
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