TENNYSON AND THE MO'ALLAKAT.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—With regard to the reference to Sir Charles Lyall's
translation of the " " in your review of Mr•. Blunt's version of those poems in the Spectator of February 6th, it would be interesting to know whether the Arabic word, translated as "Pleiades," really designates that constella- tion. The expression used of " a girdle aslant on a woman's waist" in Sir C. Lyall's translation appears to be much more applicable to the three bright stars of Orion's belt than to the Pleiades. The question is of some interest, inasmuch as Sir• Alfred Lyall in his note on this subject (" Tennyson," p. 50), comparing the similes adopted by the English and Arabian poets respectively, says that "the comparison is by no means to the disadvantage of the Arabian." But if the constellation referred to by both poets is really that of the Pleiades, there can, I think, be no doubt that Tennyson's simile of " fireflies tangled in a silver braid " is the better of the two, so far as the appearance of the constellation is con- [We should have stated last week that the writer of the review inadvertently attributed to Sir Charles Lyall a trans- lation made by Sir William Jones.—ED. Spectator.)
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