imperfections. In addition to the beauty of the language in which
the Poet has given utterance to his thoughts, there is a depth of
meaning in those thoughts which is not easily discoverable at
first sight, and the translator incurs great risk of overlooking
it, and of giving a prosaic effect to that which in the original
contains the very essence of poetry. It is probably this
difficulty that has deterred others from undertaking the task I
have set myself, and in which I do not pretend to do more than
attempt to give an idea of the minstrelsy of one so unrivalled,
by as truthful an interpretation of it as lies in my power.

The principles which have guided me on the present occasion are
the same as those followed in the translation of Schiller's
complete Poems that was published by me in 1851, namely, as
literal a rendering of the original as is consistent with good
English, and also a very strict adherence to the metre of the
original. Although translators usually allow themselves great
license in both these points, it appears to me that by so doing
they of necessity destroy the very soul of the work they profess
to translate. In fact, it is not a translation, but a paraphrase
that they give. It may perhaps be thought that the present
translations go almost to the other extreme, and that a rendering
of metre, line for line, and word for word, makes it impossible
to preserve the poetry of the original both in substance and in
sound. But experience has convinced me that it is not so, and
that great fidelity is even the most essential element of
success, whether in translating poetry or prose. It was therefore
very satisfactory to me to find that the principle laid down by
me to myself in translating Schiller met with the very general,
if not universal, approval of the reader. At the same time, I