pproaches it, in such songs as that of Beatrice in the last act of
the "The Cenci," we feel that stream of music is crossed and shaken by
subtle under-currents.

What Coleridge claims for the Bible may be claimed for all imaginative
and passionate literature. AEschylus, Lucretius, Dante, Milton; how does
the Bible excel these in that respect? When we come to Shakespeare we
find a sublimity which transcends that of Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Job, with
a pathos, a humor, and a wit, such as no Hebrew writer ever imagined.
And Shakepeare's superb style triumphs easily in all these fields.
Coleridge recommends the Bible as an antidote to vulgarity. I would
recommend Milton as much, Dante more, and Shakespeare beyond all.

"Our version of the Bible," Coleridge elsewhere says, "has preserved
a purity of meaning to many terms of natural objects. Without this
holdfast, our vitiated imaginations would refine away language to mere
abstractions." This is merely saying that our Bible, designed for common
people centuries ago, is a monument of Saxon English. Clearly that is an
accident of our translation, and not an essence of the Bible itself. As
much may be said for all our ancient standards.

Coleridge admits that our New Testament is less elegant and correct than
the Old, and contains "slovenly phrases which would never have come
from Ben Jonson, or any other good prose writer of the day." Yet our New
Testament, according to Mr. Swinburne (and there is no better judge),
is translated from canine Greek into divine English. The truth is, the
_style_ of our Bible is owing to the translators. They lived before
the hurry of our cheap periodical press, when men wrote leisurely
for leisured readers. There was also no great accumulation of native
literature, and scholars studied almost exclusively the masterpieces of
Greece and Rome. Their sense of style was therefore superior. Read
the Dedication to King James in our authorised version, then the
introduction to our revised version, and see what an immense difference
there is between the styles. Or read Paul's noble praise of charity in
the two versions. By substituting _love_ for _charity_, the revisers
have vitiated the sense, and destroyed the balance of the style. Their
mincing monosyllable is too weak to bear the structural weight of the
clauses. A closer analysis shows that they have spoiled the passage
throughout. They had no ear: in other words, no style. The old
translators _had_ ea