Part 28 (2/2)

There was no man, friend nor foe, who could dissuade you from that sorrowful journey; but ye swam in the surf, stretching out your arms over the waves, and stirring up the surge with your hands. So did ye glide across the ocean, while the waves weltered in wintry storms, and for seven nights ye laboured in the tumult of the seas. But in the end the victory was with Breca, for his might was the greater. Then on the morning of the eighth day the tide bore him to the sh.o.r.e of Norway, whence he visited his beloved home, the fair city of safety, where he ruled over many people, over towns and treasure. Truly he did perform all his boast against thee.'

_Criticism of the Paraphrase._

In the opinion of the present writer, no better paraphrase of _Beowulf_ exists.

It is perhaps unfortunate that the word 'translated' is used on the t.i.tle-page, for this is misleading. The proper form is that used on the cover of the book, 'Beowulf, told by Miss Clara Thomson.'

It were sufficient praise to point out that the author has contrived to retain practically all of the poem, without ever falsifying its spirit by introducing a superabundance of explanatory phrases[2]. She is always true to the story (as Miss Ragozin[3] is not, for example, in the first section of her work); she is equally true to the spirit of the poem (as Mr. Gibb[4] is not). The style is both vigorous and simple, not unworthy of the story it tells.

It will be surprising if Miss Thomson's work is not popular in England, and the book should be known and used in this country.

[Footnote 1: Miss Thomson is better known as the biographer of Samuel Richardson. See _Samuel Richardson, a Biographical and Critical Study_. London, 1900.]

[Footnote 2: The author's argument against inserting the Prolog is sound enough; but the omission of any part of the poem in a paraphrase so good as Miss Thomson's is to be regretted.]

[Footnote 3: See supra, p. 138.] [[Ragozin]]

[Footnote 4: See supra, p. 128.] [[Gibb]]

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