Immersion in an Homeric verse

=English translations of Homer's Odyssey=

G.A. Schomberg's translation, 1879 (with the "far distant shore" line)
  The godlike chief addressed her with these words: “Young maiden, wilt thou guide me in the way Towards the palace of Alcinous, Who is the ruler of these people here? For I a stranger, and in wretchedness. Have hither come from a far distant shore ; And no one do I know of those who dwell In this thy city, and thy native land.”
 * Source in MLA style: Schomberg, George Augustus. "Book VII." The Odyssey of Homer: Rendered Into English Verse: Volume I: Books I. to XII. London (50 Albemarle Street): John Murray, 1879. 176. Print. http://quod.lib.umich.edu/g/genpub/BAB8345.0001.001/184
 * Description by John Caldigate, 1879: … General Schomberg has attempted a more difficult task. If he has not achieved a success which many and illustrious predecessors in the same course have failed to attain, he has yet gained a not undistinguished place among them. His Odyssey will scarcely become the standard translation — a place still vacant, in spite of Mr. Worsley's admirable work — but it will always be named with honour, as an able, scholarly, and conscientious work.

Butcher and Lang's translation, 1879 (the version used by Joyce)
 … and goodly Odysseus inquired of her: ‘My child, couldst thou not lead me to the palace of the lord Alcinous, who bears sway among this people? Lo, I am come here, a stranger, travel worn, from afar, from a distant land ; wherefore of the folk who possess this city and country I know not any man.’
 * Source in MLA style: Butcher, Samuel Henry, and Andrew Lang. "Book VII." The Odyssey Of Homer: Done Into English Prose. London: Macmillian and Co., 1879. 103. http://archive.org/stream/odysseyhomer02langgoog#page/n112/mode/2up
 * Description by Howard W. Clarke, 1967: The Butcher and Lang translation of the Odyssey was overwhelmingly popular in the early part of this century, particularly after it was made part of the Modern Library. … This is the "King James" version of the Odyssey, Homer's verse pervaded (or invaded) by biblical cadences and echoes. One can find scriptural parallels for practically every word and phrase in this translation, and perhaps in some way these borrowed feathers add a new beauty to Homer’s lines and these hallowed echoes lend the Odyssey an unexpected prestige. Certainly, one of the oldest clichés of Homeric study is that the Iliad and the Odyssey were the “bible” of the Greeks. The difficulty, however, is that this pseudo-biblical meant to reinforce Homer, often works to distort it.
 * Description by Keri Elizabeth Ames, 2005: The prevailing assumption, which my anonymous PMLA reviewer also made, that the Butcher and Lang translation was Joyce's only source for The Odyssey, surely derives from Frank Budgen's recollection: “As a work of reference for his Ulysses he used the Butcher-Lang translation of the Odyssey.”39 Budgen does not, however, state that it was the only translation Joyce used, and it is difficult to determine at what date Budgen remembers this occurring, although it seems likely that it was in Paris.40 Regardless of the dating of Budgen’s memory of Joyce’s use of Butcher and Lang, the assertion that Butcher and Lang was the only translation Joyce used is definitively revealed to be a misconception. For my own part, I cannot imagine Joyce admiring Butler’s book while utterly ignoring his fine translation, and Stanislaus assures us that was not the case. It would make no sense for Joyce to have esteemed The Authoress of the Odyssey so highly, as is universally agreed, while neglecting Butler’s translation entirely.
 * 39 Budgen (1960), 323.
 * 40 Read Budgen (1960), 318-324, and make your own attempt to fix the date of his recollections. The construction of his narrative obscures the exact timing of his memories, but his mention of finding Joyce different in Paris than he had been in Zürich appears on 318; later on 323 he discusses Joyce in Zürich again. That the Butcher–Lang translation influenced Joyce substantially is not to be disputed; for instance, Herring offers a long list of citations of words and phrases in “Penelope” which he believes to be derived therein and which would far seem to surpass any possible coincidences; see Herring (1972), 497.

Robert Fitzgerald's translation, 1961 (the "standard" version)
  Confronted by her, Lord Odysseus asked: “Little one, could you take me to the house of that Alkínoös, king among these people? You see, I am a poor old stranger here; my home is far away ; here there is no one known to me, in countryside or city.”
 * Source in MLA style: Homer. "Book Seven: Gardens and Firelight". The Odyssey. Translated by Robert Fitzgerald. New York (Garden City): Doubleday, 1961. 124. Print. https://books.google.it/books?id=X0wUBaawvqUC&pg=PT84
 * Description by Eric McMillan, 2003: In 1961 Robert Fitzgerald issued his prize-winning translation of the Odyssey into unrhymed poetry with lines of irregular length. It became the standard choice for many years.
 * Description on the back cover of the 1998 edition: Robert Fitzgerald's is the best and best-loved modern translation of The Odyssey, and the only one admired in its own right as a great poem in English. … Since 1961, more than two million copies of this Odyssey have been sold, and it has been the standard translation for three generations of students and poets.
 * Description by D.S. Carne-Ross, 1974: Though the Odyssey is not “our first novel,” there is just enough life in the cliché to allow translator and reader to collaborate in the pleasures of a narrative mode that has not been improved on. … The Odyssey, moreover, could be thought of as awaiting its translator: until Robert Fitzgerald came along. No previous rendering was entirely satisfactory. … Fitzgerald brings many qualifications to the task. His work on the Odyssey taught him how to write verse narrative, how to convert the small change of Homeric diction into contemporary though not too contemporary English. He has an ear for the cadence of speech, a sense of the prose reality of Homer’s action.
 * About the translator: An educator, journalist, translator, editor, and author, Robert Fitzgerald distinguished himself in several literary fields. He earned the Bollingen Award in 1961 for his verse translation of Homer's Odyssey, and his translation of Homer's epics and of such works as Sophocles's Oedipus Rex and Euripedes's Alcestis earned acclaim for their clarity.
 * Further links:
 * http://swcta.net/moore/files/2014/08/The-Odyssey-Greek-Translation.pdf
 * http://www.turnerenglish.com/uploads/5/0/5/8/50588497/odyssey_text.pdf
 * https://books.google.it/books?id=nXkePe2TPQYC
 * http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?isbn=9780374525743
 * http://www.amazon.com/Odyssey-Homer/dp/0374525749

Mordaunt Barnard's translation, 1876
  For I, a suff'ring stranger, here am come From a far distant land, and therefore know None of the men who own this town and land.
 * Source in MLA style: Barnard, Mordaunt. "Book VII." The Odyssey of Homer: Rendered Into English Blank Verse. London and Edinburgh: Williams and Norgate, 1876. 106. Print. http://www.archive.org/stream/odysseyofhomerre00homerich#page/n115/mode/2up

William Cullen Bryant's translation, 1871
  I am a stranger, who have come from far After long hardships, and all of who dwell Within this realm I know not even one.
 * Source in MLA style: Bryant, William Cullen. "Book VII: Reception Of Ulysses By Alcinous." The Odyssey Of Homer: Translated Into English Blank Verse. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1871. 137. Print. http://www.archive.org/stream/odysseyhomer00bryagoog#page/n156/mode/2up

Lovelace Bigge-Wither's translation, 1869
  “My child! Would’st thou not shew me to the mansion Of sire Alcinŏus — lord of all these people? For I a sore-worn stranger-have come hither — From a far country : wherefore know I none Of-the-folk, who hold this town and country-land.”
 * Source in MLA style: Bigge-Wither, Lovelace. "H. VII. Odysseus kindly welcomed in Phæacia." A Nearly Literal Translation Of Homer's Odyssey Into Accentuated Dramatic Verse. Oxford and London: James Parker And Co., 1869. 107. Print. https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&id=44YXAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA107

T.S. Norgate's translation, 1863
  Before him now she stood: whereat the prince Odusseus, he thus questioned her: “Couldst guide me, My Child, to the palace of the lord Alcinoos, Chief ruler among these folk? for a stranger here I’m come, from forth a foreign far off land , Through many a trouble: wherefore none do I know Of the folk who have and hold this Town and land.”
 * Source in MLA style: Norgate, Thomas Starling. "ETA: Odusseus kindly entertained in the of Scheria by the king, Alcinoos." Homer: The Odyssey; Or, The Ten Years’ Wandering Of Odusseus, After The Ten Years’ Siege Of Troy: Reproduced In Dramatic Blank Verse. London and Edinburgh: Williams and Norgate, 1863. 134. Print. http://archive.org/stream/odysseyortenyear00home#page/134/mode/2up

Alexander Pope's translation, 1725
  “Show me, fair daughter (thus the chief demands), The house of him who rules these happy lands. Thro’ many woes and wand’rings, lo! I come To good Alcinous’ hospitable dome. Far from my native coast, I rove alone, A wretched stranger, and of all unknown!”
 * Source in MLA style: Pope, Alexander. "The Seventh Book of the Odyssey." The Odyssey of Homer: Translated from the Greek: Vol. II. London: Bernard Lintot, 1725. 95. Print. https://books.google.it/books?id=0F5eAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA95
 * Description by Eric McMillan, 2003: Alexander Pope also carried on from a translation of the Iliad to The Odyssey in 1725 with rhymed couplets in iambic pentameter. It's lovely and it's the version that you often find quoted. But the convolutions necessary to fit Homer into this form makes the story hard to follow. Pope's translation is free for downloading or copying on numerous Internet sites.

Arthur S. Way's translation, 1880
 <poem style="line-height:150%"> “Prithee, my child, wilt thou guide me to where the palace doth lie Of Alcinous, lord of the land? A woe-worn stranger am I From a far-away shore who am come; and all unknown unto me Are the men that dwell in the town and the fields that around it be.”
 * Source in MLA style: Way, Arthur Sanders. "Book VII: How Odysseus came unto the halls of the Sea-king." The Odyssey of Homer: In English Verse. 3rd ed. London: Macmillian and Co., 1904. 82. Print. http://archive.org/stream/odysseyhomerine00homegoog#page/n96/mode/2up

William Morris's translation, 1887
<blockquote style="font-family: Verdana, serif; font-size:11pt; background-color: AntiqueWhite; padding-left:4px; padding-right:4px; width:90.1%"> <poem style="line-height:150%"> “O child, wouldst thou be my leader to the house of a certain man, E’en him they call Alcinoüs, who o’er these men is king? For hither I come as a stranger, toil-worn and wandering, Afar from a land aloof ; so I know not one of those Who dwell within the city and work the field and the close.”
 * Source in MLA style: Morris, William. "Book VII." The Odyssey of Homer: Done Into English Verse. London: Reeves and Turner, 1887. 112. Print. http://archive.org/stream/odysseyhomerdon00morrgoog#page/n128/mode/2up

Samuel Butler's translation, 1900
<blockquote style="font-family: Times; font-size:13pt; background-color: AntiqueWhite; padding-left:4px; padding-right:4px; width:90.1%; text-align:justify; line-height:150%"> “My dear, will you be so kind as to show me the house of king Alcinous? I am an unfortunate foreigner in distress, and do not know one in your town and country.”
 * Source in MLA style: Butler, Samuel. "Book VII: Reception Of Ulysses At The Palace Of King Alcinous." The Odyssey: Rendered Into English Prose For The Use Of Those Who Cannot Read The Original. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1900. Print. http://archive.org/stream/odysseyrenderedi00homerich#page/82/mode/2up

A.T. Murray's translation, 1919
<blockquote style="font-family: Times; font-size:13pt; background-color: AntiqueWhite; padding-left:4px; padding-right:4px; width:90.1%; text-align:justify; line-height:150%"> “My child, couldst thou not guide me to the house of him they call Alcinous, who is lord among the people here? For I am come hither a stranger sore-tried from afar, from a distant country ; wherefore I know no one of the people who possess this city and land.”
 * Source in MLA style: Homer. "Book VII." The Odyssey. Trans. Augustus Taber Murray. Vol. 1. London: William Heinemann, 1919. 235. Print. http://archive.org/stream/odyssey01home#page/n255/mode/2up

Richmond Lattimore's translation, 1967
<blockquote style="font-family: Verdana, serif; font-size:11pt; background-color: AntiqueWhite; padding-left:4px; padding-right:4px; width:90.1%"> <poem style="line-height:150%"> ‘My child, would you not show me the way to the house of a certain man, Alkinoös, who is lord over all these people? For I am an unhappy stranger, and I have come here a long way from a distant land, and I know nobody here of the people who keep this city and the fields about it.’
 * Source in MLA style: Lattimore, Richmond. "Book VII. Reception of Odysseus by Alkinoös and Arete." The Odyssey of Homer. New York (10 East 53d Street): Harper & Row, 1967. 111-112. Print. https://books.google.it/books?hl=it&id=10xyAAAAIAAJ&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=%22from+a+distant+land%22
 * Description by Eric McMillan, 2003: Few translators, apart from Richmond Lattimore, attempt an English hexameter version — and Lattimore at least drops the dactylic part. Lattimore does manage to pull it off in his acclaimed translation of 1965–67. It is both majestic and very faithful to Homer — though perhaps also more of a challenge for a reader who is intimidated by long lines of poetry. It's my personal favourite, but it's not for everyone. You may prefer any of the other noted renderings of modern English translators over the past four centuries.

Translation of Franz Schubert's song "The Wanderer", 1855
<blockquote style="font-family: Verdana, serif; font-size:11pt; background-color: AntiqueWhite; padding-left:4px; padding-right:4px"> <poem style="line-height:150%"> I come from a far distant shore …
 * Source in MLA style: Schubert, Franz Peter. "No. 3, The Wanderer" Addison & Hodson's edition of songs composed by Franz Schubert: with English, German & Italian words. London (210 Regent Street): Addison & Hodson, 1855. Print. http://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000368280
 * Note: Only this first line is available over the internet. At least, it shows how the use of "far distant shore" sounded good even in nineteenth-century writing, since the literal translation of the original German line should have been "I come from the mountains here", followed by "The dawn is on the forest and the sea / I look after the evening star / The home is so far away, so far away".

Traditional Irish song "The Wild Rover", early 19th century
<blockquote style="font-family: Verdana, serif; font-size:11pt; background-color: AntiqueWhite; padding-left:4px; padding-right:4px"> <poem style="line-height:150%"> … I'll have none of your whiskeys nor fine Spanish wines, For your words show you clearly as no friend of mine. There's others most willing to open a door, To a man coming home from a far distant shore. …
 * Source in MLA style: "The Wild Rover." The Sharpe Compendium. Sable Designs, 2011. Web. http://sharpecompendium.net/songs/
 * Note: This whole stanza is missing in many other sources. The Greig-Duncan collection contains no less than six versions of the song. It was compiled by Gavin Greig 1848–1917.

C.D. Morgan's poem "Spring", 1865
<blockquote style="font-family: Verdana, serif; font-size:11pt; background-color: AntiqueWhite; padding-left:4px; padding-right:4px; width:90.1%"> <poem style="line-height:150%"> Ay Angel hath come from a far distant shore, The angry sea knew her, and hushed its fierce roar; As she stepped on the mountains the heath-bells arose; As she smiled the sweet violets awoke from repose; …
 * Source in MLA style: Morgan, C. D. "Spring." Wanderings with the muses, or, Fugitive poems. Los Angeles (THK Cambrian-Office, Wind Street): The Library of the University of California, 1865. 2. Print. http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/c-d-morgan/wanderings-with-the-muses-or-fugitive-poems-gro/page-2-wanderings-with-the-muses-or-fugitive-poems-gro.shtml

Mark F. Bigney's poem "The Forest Pilgrims", 1867
<blockquote style="font-family: Verdana, serif; font-size:11pt; background-color: AntiqueWhite; padding-left:4px; padding-right:4px"> <poem style="line-height:150%"> … And the strange stories which had filled their ears Of pale-faced nations who of gods were peers. How they had come from a far, distant shore; How vast canoes these wondrous people bore; How in their vengeance, with a potent breath, They bade the thunder do their work of death; …
 * Source in MLA style: Bigney, Mark Frederick. "The Forest Pilgrims." The Forest Pilgrims, and Other Poems. New Orleans (92 Camp Street): J. A. Gresham, 1867. 21. Print. http://archive.org/stream/forestpilgrims00bignrich#page/n21/mode/2up

Go back to the chapter "The far distant shore"

=References=