Perhaps no person,
amongst the many individuals who have distinguished themselves by skill in
the targumannic art, has more successfully surmounted this difficulty than
Fairfax, the Translator into English "octave rhyme" of "The Jerusalem,"
the master-piece of the greatest poet of modern Italy and, with one
exception, of modern time.
That the character of a nation is best distinguishable by the general tone
of its poetry, has been frequently remarked, and is a truth which does not
admit of controversy; the soft songs of the Persian, and the bold and
warlike ditties of the Dane are emblems of the effeminacy of the one, and
the reckless heroism of the other.--In most instances the writer in the
selection of pieces for this little work has been guided by a desire of
exhibiting what is most characteristic of the people to whose literature
it belongs. At the same time, he has been careful that this desire should
not lead him to the countenancing of any thing which could be considered
as pregnant with injury to good taste and morals, and has in consequence
been compelled to exclude from his anthology many a glorious flower, which
he would gladly have woven therein, had he not been apprehensive that it
was the offspring of a poisonous bulb.
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