is doubtless something quaint and peculiar in these lines, but it
is the quaintness and peculiarity of Dante. The _I_ and _my_, the _we_
and _our_, are traits of that direct and positive mode of expression
which is one of the distinctive characteristics of his style. Do we find
it in Cary?

"For I beheld and heard
The beak discourse; and what intention formed
Of many, singly as of one express."

Do we not find it in Longfellow?

"For speak I saw, and likewise heard, the beak,
And utter with its voice both _I_ and _My_,
When in conception it was _We_ and _Our_."

It is not surprising that the two translators, starting with theories
essentially so different, should have produced such different results.
Which of these results is most in harmony with the legitimate object of
translation can hardly admit of a doubt. For the object of translation
is to convey an accurate idea of the original, or, in other words, to
render the words and idioms of the language from which the translation
is made by their exact equivalents in the language into which it is
made. The translator is bound by the words of the original. He is bound,
so far as the difference between languages admits of it, by the idioms
of the original. And as the effect of words and idioms depends in a
great measure upon the skill with which they are arranged, he is bound
also by the rhythm of the original. If you would copy Raphael, you must
not give him the coloring of Titian. The calm dignity of the "School of
Athens" conveys a very imperfect idea of the sublime energy of the
sibyls and prophets of the Sistine Chapel.

But can this exactitude be achieved without forcing language into such
uncongenial forms as to produce an artificial effect, painfully
reminding you, at every step, of the labor it cost? And here we come to
the question of fact; for if Mr. Longfellow has succeeded, the answer is
evident. We purpose, therefore, to take a few test-passages, and,
placing the two translations side by side with the original, give our
readers an opportunity of making the comparison for themselves.

First, however, let us remind the reader that, if it were possible to
convey an accurate idea of Dante's style by a single word, that word
would be _power_. Whatever he undertakes to say, he says in the form
best suited to convey his thought to the reader's mind as it existed in
his own mind. If it be a metaphysical idea, he fi