The Project Gutenberg EBook of National Epics, by Kate Milner RabbCopyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the copyright laws for your country before downloadingor redistributing this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do notchange or edit the header without written permission.Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of thisfile. Included is important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how the file may be used. You can alsofind out about how to make a donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts****eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971*******These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****Title: National EpicsAuthor: Kate Milner RabbRelease Date: May, 2005 [EBook #8072] [This file was first posted on June 11, 2003]Edition: 10Language: English*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, NATIONAL EPICS ***E-text prepared by David Starner, S.R. Ellison, and the Online Distributed Proofing TeamNATIONAL EPICSBYKATE MILNER RABB1896TO MY MOTHER.PREFACE.This volume is intended for an introduction to the study of the epics. While the simplicity and directness of the epic styleseem to make such a book unnecessary, the fact that ...
The Project Gutenberg EBook of National Epics, by Kate Milner Rabb
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**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971**
*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****
Title: National Epics
Author: Kate Milner Rabb
Release Date: May, 2005 [EBook #8072] [This file was first posted on June 11, 2003]
Edition: 10
Language: English
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, NATIONAL EPICS ***
E-text prepared by David Starner, S.R. Ellison, and the Online Distributed Proofing Team
NATIONAL EPICS
BY
KATE MILNER RABB
1896
TO MY MOTHER.PREFACE.
This volume is intended for an introduction to the study of the epics. While the simplicity and directness of the epic style
seem to make such a book unnecessary, the fact that to many persons of literary tastes some of these great poems are
inaccessible, and that to many more the pleasure of exploring for themselves "the realms of gold" is rendered impossible
by the cares of business, has seemed sufficient excuse for its being. Though the beauty of the original is of necessity lost
in a condensation of this kind, an endeavor has been made to preserve the characteristic epithets, and to retain what Mr.
Arnold called "the simple truth about the matter of the poem." It is believed that the sketch prefacing each story, giving
briefly the length, versification, and history of the poem, will have its value to those readers who have not access to the
epics, and that the selections following the story, each recounting a complete incident, will give a better idea of the epic
than could be formed from passages scattered through the text.
The epic originated among tribes of barbarians, who deified departed heroes and recited legends in praise of their
deeds. As the hymn developed, the chorus and strophe were dropped, and the narrative only was preserved. The word
"epic" was used simply to distinguish the narrative poem, which was recited, from the lyric, which was sung, and from the
dramatic, which was acted.
As the nation passed from childhood to youth, the legends of the hero that each wandering minstrel had changed to suit
his fancy, were collected and fused into one by some great poet, who by his power of unification made this written epic
his own.
This is the origin of the Hindu epics, the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey," the "Kalevala," the "Shah-Nameh," "Beowulf," the
"Nibelungen Lied," the "Cid," and the "Song of Roland."
The conditions for the production of the primitive epic exist but once in a nation's growth. Its later epics must be written on
subjects of national importance, chosen by the poet, who arranges and embellishes his material according to the rules of
the primitive epic. To this class belong the "Aeneid," the "Jerusalem Delivered," and the "Lusiad." Dante's poem is
broader, for it is the epic of mediaeval Christianity. Milton likewise sought "higher argument" than
"Wars, hitherto the only argument
Heroic deemed,"
and crystallized the religious beliefs of his time in "Paradise Lost."
The characteristics both of the primitive and the modern epic are their uniform metre, simplicity of construction,
concentration of action into a short time, and the use of episode and dialogue. The main difference lies in the
impersonality of the primitive epic, whose author has so skillfully hidden himself behind his work that, as some one has
said of Homer, "his heroes are immortal, but his own existence is doubtful."
Although the historical events chronicled in the epics have in every case been so distorted by the fancy of the poets that
they cannot be accepted as history, the epics are storehouses of information concerning ancient manners and customs,
religious beliefs, forms of government, treatment of women, and habits of feeling.
Constructed upon the noblest principles of art, and pervaded by the eternal calm of the immortals, these poems have an
especial value to us, who have scarcely yet realized that poetry is an art, and are feverish from the unrest of our time. If by
the help of this volume any reader be enabled to find a portion of the wisdom that is hidden in these mines, its purpose
will have been accomplished.
My thanks are due to Mr. John A. Wilstach for the use of selections from his translation of the "Divine Comedy;" to Prof. J.
M. Crawford, for the use of selections from his translation of the "Kalevala;" to Henry Holt & Co., for the use of selections
from Rabillon's translation of "La Chanson de Roland;" to Roberts Brothers, for the use of selections from Edwin Arnold's
"Indian Idylls;" to Prof. J. C. Hall, for the use of selections from his translation of "Beowulf;" and to A. C. Armstrong & Son,
for the use of selections from Conington's Translation of the "Aeneid." The selections from the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey"
are used with the permission of and by special arrangement with Houghton, Mifflin & Co., publishers of Bryant's
translations of the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey." Special thanks are due to Miss Eliza G. Browning of the Public Library of
Indianapolis, to Miss Florence Hughes of the Library of Indiana University, and to Miss Charity Dye, of Indianapolis.
K. M. R.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., September, 1896.CONTENTS.
THE HINDU EPIC: THE RAMÂYÂNA
THE HINDU EPIC: THE MAHÂ-BHÂRATA
THE GREEK EPIC: THE ILIAD
THE GREEK EPIC: THE ODYSSEY
THE FINNISH EPIC: THE KALEVALA
THE ROMAN EPIC: THE AENEID
THE SAXON EPIC: BEOWULF
THE GERMAN EPIC: THE NIBELUNGEN LIED
THE FRENCH EPIC: THE SONG OF ROLAND
THE PERSIAN EPIC: THE SHAH-NAMEH
THE SPANISH EPIC: THE POEM OF THE CID
THE ITALIAN EPIC: THE DIVINE COMEDY
THE ITALIAN EPIC: THE ORLANDO FURIOSO
THE PORTUGUESE EPIC: THE LUSIAD
THE ITALIAN EPIC: THE JERUSALEM DELIVERED
THE ENGLISH EPIC: PARADISE LOST
THE ENGLISH EPIC: PARADISE REGAINEDSELECTIONS.
FROM THE RÂMÂYANA: TRANSLATOR
The Descent of the Ganges … Milman
The Death of Yajnadatta … "
FROM THE MAHÂ-BHÂRATA:
Sâvitrî; or, Love and Death … Arnold
The Great Journey … "
FROM THE ILIAD:
Helen at the Scaean Gates … Bryant
The Parting of Hector and Andromache … "
FROM THE ODYSSEY:
The Palace of Alcinoüs … Bryant
The Bending of the Bow … "
FROM THE KALEVALA:
Ilmarinen's Wedding Feast … Crawford
The Birth of the Harp … "
FROM THE AENEID:
Nisus and Euryalus … Conington
FROM BEOWULF:
Grendel's Mother … Hall
FROM THE NIBELUNGEN LIED:
How Brunhild was received at Worms … Lettsom
How Margrave Rüdeger was slain … "
FROM THE SONG OF ROLAND:
The Horn … Rabillon
Roland's Death … "
FROM THE SHAH-NAMEH:
The Rajah of India sends a Chessboard
to Nushirvan Robinson
Zal and Rudabeh "
FROM THE POEM OF THE CID:
Count Raymond and My Cid Ormsby
My Cid's Triumph "
FROM THE DIVINE COMEDY:
Count Ugolino Wilstach
Buonconte di Montefeltro "
Beatrice descending from Heaven "
The Exquisite Beauty of Beatrice "
FROM THE ORLANDO FURIOSO:
The Death of Zerbino Rose
FROM THE LUSIAD:
Inez de Castro Mickle
The Spirit of the Cape "
FROM THE JERUSALEM DELIVERED:
Sophronia and Olindo Wiffen
FROM PARADISE LOST:
Satan
Apostrophe to Light
FROM PARADISE REGAINED:
The Temptation of the Vision of the Kingdoms of the EarthNATIONAL EPICS.
THE RÂMÂYANA.
"He who sings and hears this poem continually has attained to the highest state of enjoyment, and will finally be
equal to the gods."
The Râmâyana, the Hindu Iliad, is variously ascribed to the fifth, third, and first centuries B.C., its many interpolations
making it almost impossible to determine its age by internal evidence. Its authorship is unknown, but according to legend
it was sung by Kuça and Lava, the sons of Rama, to whom it was taught by Valmiki. Of the three versions now extant, one
is attributed to Valmiki, another to Tuli Das, and a third to Vyasa.
Its historical basis, almost lost in the innumerable episodes and grotesque imaginings of the Hindu, is probably the
conquest of southern India and Ceylon by the Aryans.
The Râmâyana is written in the Sanskrit language, is divided into seven books, or sections, and contains fifty thousand
lines, the English translation of which, by Griffith, occupies five volumes.
The hero, Rama, is still an object of worship in India, the route of his wanderings being, each year, trodden by devout
pilgrims. The poem is not a mere literary monument,—it is a part of the actual religion of the Hindu, and is held in such
reverence that the mere reading or hearing of it, or certain passages of it, is believed to free from sin and grant his every
desire to the reader or hearer.BIBLIOGRAPHY AND CRITICISM, THE RÂMÂYANA.
G. W. Cox's Mythology and Folklore, 1881, p. 313;
John Dowson's Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology, Religion,
Geography, History, and Literature, 1879;
Sir William Jones on the Literature of the Hindus (in his Works, vol. iv.);
Maj.-Gen. Vans Kennedy's Researches into Hindu Mythology, 1831;
James Mill's History of British India, 1840, vol. ii., pp. 47-123;
F. Max Müller's Ancient Sanskrit Literature, 1859;
E. A. Reed's Hindu Literature, 1891, pp. 153-271;
Albrecht Weber's History of Indian Literature, 1878, pp. 191-195;
J. T. Wheeler's History of India, 4 vols., 1876, vol. ii.;
Sir Monier Williams's Indian Wisdom, 1863, Indian Epic Poetry, 1863;
Article on Sanskrit Literature in Encyclopædia Britannica;
R.