This passage is from a new book (2002), the first of its kind to be published in over one hundred years! The book is called “A Guide to Latin Meter and Verse Composition”, by David J Califf. On one page of this little gem of a book is the following:
The dactylic rhythm is rather difficult to achieve in English, which more readily lends itself to the iamb, but there have been some notable successes. In 1847, a group of poets collaborated on a project of English Hexameter Translations. Dr. Thomas Hawtrey, a minor poet but technically skilled versifier selected a passage from Book III of Homer’s Iliad. … [here an] excerpt from Hawtrey’s translation, which Matthew Arnold praised as “the most successful attempt hereto made at rendering Homer into English”.
Clearly the rest I behold of the dark-ey’d sons of Achaia;
Known to me well are the faces of all; their names I remember;
Two, two only remain, whom I see not among the commanders,
Kastor, fleet in the car–Polydeuces, brave with the cestus–
Own dear brethren of mine–one parent loved us as infants.
Are they not here in the host, from the shores of lov’d Lakedaimon?
Or, tho’ they came with the rest of the ships that bound thro’ the waters,
Dare they not enter the fight or star in the council of Heroes,
All for the fear of the shame and the taunts my crime has awaken’d?
So said she;–they long since in Earth’s soft arms were reposing,
There, in their own dear land, their Father-land, Lakedaimon. 
The little face was my insertion. 
This short passage in English hexametres observes all the rules of the ancient Greek hexametre, including quantities, caesurae, and bridges.
Be sure you read it aloud, as things ought to be read, so that one may hear them better. 
Beautiful Thomas,
Absolutely beautiful.
Hope you enjoy’d this one,
-S.
i’m feeling a little myself after reading that passage - very beautiful.
That is one stunning rendition…
It’s amazing what difference the meter makes. I think that’s what my own study of Homer has lacked so far - keeping in mind that my Greek isn’t good enough to approach him in the original yet - not just meter, but diction in general, which is inevitably lost in translation. I know in English poetry I am sensitive to the sounds more than anything else…
[quote author=Elucubrator link=board=2;threadid=67;start=0#239 date=1051148002]
…which Matthew Arnold praised as “the most successful attempt hereto made at rendering Homer into English”.
[/quote]
Anyone interested in reading Arnold’s lectures on translating Homer? It’s available in PDF form here:
http://www.ajdrake.com/etexts/texts/Arnold/Works/on_trans_homer_last_w_1862.pdf
Raya!!!
thanks for digging up the link to the Matthew Arnold Lecture. It’s too long for me to read right now. But I’m glad to have it. ;D
-S.