SELF-CULTURE FOR GIRLS.PART IV.Wehave discussed the question why, and how, reading should find a place in the daily scheme of life, and have now to inquire what shall be chosen for the culture of the mind and heart. To inveigh upon the necessity of reading, for a would-be student, and never suggest what shall be read, would be about as sensible as to inveigh on the necessity of food for a growing child, without reference to the sort of nourishment that is to build up the physical frame. On its proper quality, health and strength in great measure depend.It is easy enough in these days to know what foods are nutritious, if anyone chooses to take the trouble to find out, and those suitable for the growing child are comparatively few in number. But alas, for the multitude of books! Who shall discriminate among them? “It is of the greatest importance to you,” says Ruskin, “not only for art’s sake but for all kinds of sake, in these days of book deluge, to keep out of the salt swamps of literature, and live on a little rocky island of your own, with a spring and a lake in it, pure and good. I cannot, of course, suggest the choice of your library to you, for every several mind needs different books; but there are some books which we all need.”And first it may be said that no kind of culture is possible without a knowledge of the great literature of the Past. You must, therefore, read and study what has survived through centuries of time. Have you ever reflected on the immortality of books, and what it means? Written in the most perishable of materials, nay, at first not written, but handed down by word of mouth, they have outlasted the triumphal arch, the mighty column, the impregnable city of old; have continued, while empires have tottered to their doom, and while one civilisation has risen upon the ruins of another. The shocks of contending armies have affected them not: they have endured, from generation to generation, the same, while all else has changed. What respect, then, and reverence should be paid to the books of olden time!First, of course, comes the Bible. We are not accustomed to study this Book for literary reasons, and rightly think its claim to our love and reverence rests upon other grounds. But we must never forget that the sublimest poetry, the most beautiful simplicity of diction mingled with grandeur, are to be found in the Old and New Testaments.“Intense study of the Bible will keep any man from being vulgar in point of style,” said Coleridge.Also, if anyone anxious for self-culture could take the Bible as a starting-point, and follow up all the different allusions to the nations of the earth—study the early civilisations of Egypt and Assyria, going on to Greece, Rome and Asia Minor, for example—he would find himself well educated in ancient history before he was aware of it.The influence of Bible study upon the character, even in the way of culture, is very wonderful. Take, for instance, the Scotch peasantry of a generation or two ago. Devout, versed in the Scriptures and probably little else, what a fine mental type many of their children have exhibited! One could name novelists, philosophers, divines, who have traced their power of thought and charm of diction to the influence of the home where riches were not, but a sturdy, simple, religious faith, based upon a daily study of the Bible, prevailed.“Every several mind needs different books,” but every mind needs the Book of books.Apart from the Bible, there are two books of which you should know something: theIliadand theOdysseyof Homer.This possibly sounds far too learned to many girls who read this page. They have a vague idea that they must know Greek before they can approach what their schoolboy brothers regard as a task. And if they never hear of these names in the daily run of life, they feel all the more reluctant to attack what sounds repellent and incomprehensible.If any girl with an average amount of intelligence can get Butcher and Lang’s translation of theOdyssey, she will doubtless be charmed, and any such ideas of repulsion as we have mentioned will be swept quite out of her mind. This translation reads like a romance or fairy tale of old. Jebb’sPrimer of Greek Literature, published at one shilling, will be a help to its full comprehension, and a Greek History may also be useful. Smith’sSmaller History of Greeceis very good.TheIliadand theOdysseyare probably at least twenty-seven centuries old; and they still appeal to the human heart. Mr. Gladstone said he felt himself “in heaven when he was breathing the pure atmosphere of Homer.” And a child also can delight in their pages. The present writer will never forget the charm to her, as a little girl, of Pope’s version of theOdyssey, with outline illustrations by Flaxman.Although theIliadand theOdysseyare poems, the translations that will appeal most strongly to English girl-readers, we think, are the prose versions by Andrew Lang and his colleagues. These are written in an exquisitely simple style, nearer to the original than the sonorous lines of Pope, Chapman, Lord Derby, Worsley, and many others.Besides theIliadandOdyssey, which treat of the very dawn of history, there are other works of which you should know something. One might write a volume on the subject of Greek literature, but it is inopportune here to mention more than a few books. TheApology,CritoandPhædoof Plato, are translated in Dean Church’sTrial and Death of Socrates. They are dialogues telling that immortal story. The plays of Æschylus are issued in English in Morley’s Universal Library, published by Routledge at a shilling. TheAlcestisof Euripides has been beautifully translated by Robert Browning inBalaustion’s Adventure, which tells the fascinating story of the capture of a Rhodian girl by the Syracusans, and the way in which she won her liberty by reciting the playAlcestis. The plays of Euripides as a whole are well translated by Arthur S. Way, M.A. (Macmillan); and the plays of Æschylus by Dean Plumptre. Miss Anna Swanwick has rendered theAgamemnonof Æschylus into charming English.The student of this literature will find the same names recur again and again. She will soon come to understand its scope, and live in a world of her own—not a forlorn, dry-as-dust world of ruins and ashes, but a bright glad world, which recalls Browning’s words:“Never morn broke clear as thoseOn the dim clustered isles in the blue sea,The deep groves and white temples and wet caves.”This world is peopled with noble men and fair women, and all they do and say is chronicled with a sweet, majestic simplicity that appeals to the heart. Sin there is, and its resulting sorrow and doom; but the lesson is that which echoes from the recurrent words in the chorus of theAgamemnon:“Ah, may the Good prevail!”And when we come down to the story of Socrates, who literally died because he strove to teach that which he knew to be right, we feel that we tread on sacred ground:“Seeking there,Calm converse with the great dead, soul to soul,Who laid up treasure with the like intent.”Space forbids, or it would be possible to write pages on the delights of Greek literature. But to any girl who has leisure and inclination, the study of the Greek language itself is most strongly recommended. Translations abound, and are excellent, but the best translation cannot give the beauty of the original. The study of the lovely, flexible language is in itself an education; it is surely an inducement that the New Testament is written in comparatively easy Greek; and the wealth of literature to which Greek constitutes a title-deed may well repay hard labour.“Can a girl learn Greek quite alone and unaided?” it may be asked. Well, it can possibly be done, but a little help is invaluable, and there are correspondence and other classes of which anyone who is in real earnest can ascertain particulars and avail herself, if she cannot get individual tuition. The task is not easy, but it is worth while to attempt it.There is a book which, perhaps better than any other, can help the young to enter into the Greek spirit:The Heroes; Greek Fairy Tales for my Children, by Charles Kingsley. If all the other advice of our chapter proves unpalatable, surely this may be accepted, as the legends are told in the most fascinating and simple way. Nathaniel Hawthorne, inTanglewood Tales, has embodied olden legends, but in a less charming manner.Dean Church has recounted for boys stories from Homer, Herodotus, and the Greek tragedians, also from Livy and from Virgil.The works of Virgil, in Dryden’s translation from the Latin, are published in Morley’s Universal Library for one shilling.Some knowledge of Latin is more frequently found among girls than a knowledge of Greek, but it seldom extends so far as to afford the enjoyment of reading the classic lore they have learnt with difficulty to spell out at school. And it must be acknowledged that the fascination of Greek literature is altogether different.Two small books published by the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge,Epicureanism, by W. Wallace, M.A., andStoicism, by Rev. W. W. Capes, are very useful to those who wish to understand a little about the chief philosophies of the ancient world. To older readers theMeditations of Marcus Aurelius, and theDiscourses of Epictetus, will be valuable.The subject is so vast, it is impossible to deal with it here, and it would be absurd to suppose that one brief article could be a comprehensive guide to Greek literature. But that is not needful, or intended. This point alone we wish to emphasise: that culture is altogether impossible without some idea of the mighty Past. And even the busy and the poor may in the present day obtain a glimpse into its beauty and wonder, by means of the translations we have mentioned. One such glimpse will lead on to another.The Heroes of Asgard, by A. and E. Keary, if still in print, is almost as fascinating in its way as Kingsley’sHeroes. It treats of the Scandinavian mythology in a very attractive form, telling of Baldur the Beautiful, of Loki, Thor, and many other names that should be familiar. No one can plead ignorance of ancient lore, when the stories that embody its mythology are within the mental compass even of a child.One benefit of the study of olden literature is this; that the mental prospect receives a background as it were. The thoughts found in Greek literature are the thoughts that now influence society; the eternal longings and aspirations of the heart of man were expressed in those days of old; while the gladness of the childhood of the world—a gladness that we know now in youth and the soft spring days, and the beauty of the earth—finds expression in immortal verse. So that of the names already mentioned, and of many others, it may well be said, in Mrs. Browning’s words:“These were cup-bearers undying,Of the wine that’s meant for souls.”Lily Watson.(To be continued.)
W
ehave discussed the question why, and how, reading should find a place in the daily scheme of life, and have now to inquire what shall be chosen for the culture of the mind and heart. To inveigh upon the necessity of reading, for a would-be student, and never suggest what shall be read, would be about as sensible as to inveigh on the necessity of food for a growing child, without reference to the sort of nourishment that is to build up the physical frame. On its proper quality, health and strength in great measure depend.
It is easy enough in these days to know what foods are nutritious, if anyone chooses to take the trouble to find out, and those suitable for the growing child are comparatively few in number. But alas, for the multitude of books! Who shall discriminate among them? “It is of the greatest importance to you,” says Ruskin, “not only for art’s sake but for all kinds of sake, in these days of book deluge, to keep out of the salt swamps of literature, and live on a little rocky island of your own, with a spring and a lake in it, pure and good. I cannot, of course, suggest the choice of your library to you, for every several mind needs different books; but there are some books which we all need.”
And first it may be said that no kind of culture is possible without a knowledge of the great literature of the Past. You must, therefore, read and study what has survived through centuries of time. Have you ever reflected on the immortality of books, and what it means? Written in the most perishable of materials, nay, at first not written, but handed down by word of mouth, they have outlasted the triumphal arch, the mighty column, the impregnable city of old; have continued, while empires have tottered to their doom, and while one civilisation has risen upon the ruins of another. The shocks of contending armies have affected them not: they have endured, from generation to generation, the same, while all else has changed. What respect, then, and reverence should be paid to the books of olden time!
First, of course, comes the Bible. We are not accustomed to study this Book for literary reasons, and rightly think its claim to our love and reverence rests upon other grounds. But we must never forget that the sublimest poetry, the most beautiful simplicity of diction mingled with grandeur, are to be found in the Old and New Testaments.
“Intense study of the Bible will keep any man from being vulgar in point of style,” said Coleridge.
Also, if anyone anxious for self-culture could take the Bible as a starting-point, and follow up all the different allusions to the nations of the earth—study the early civilisations of Egypt and Assyria, going on to Greece, Rome and Asia Minor, for example—he would find himself well educated in ancient history before he was aware of it.
The influence of Bible study upon the character, even in the way of culture, is very wonderful. Take, for instance, the Scotch peasantry of a generation or two ago. Devout, versed in the Scriptures and probably little else, what a fine mental type many of their children have exhibited! One could name novelists, philosophers, divines, who have traced their power of thought and charm of diction to the influence of the home where riches were not, but a sturdy, simple, religious faith, based upon a daily study of the Bible, prevailed.
“Every several mind needs different books,” but every mind needs the Book of books.
Apart from the Bible, there are two books of which you should know something: theIliadand theOdysseyof Homer.
This possibly sounds far too learned to many girls who read this page. They have a vague idea that they must know Greek before they can approach what their schoolboy brothers regard as a task. And if they never hear of these names in the daily run of life, they feel all the more reluctant to attack what sounds repellent and incomprehensible.
If any girl with an average amount of intelligence can get Butcher and Lang’s translation of theOdyssey, she will doubtless be charmed, and any such ideas of repulsion as we have mentioned will be swept quite out of her mind. This translation reads like a romance or fairy tale of old. Jebb’sPrimer of Greek Literature, published at one shilling, will be a help to its full comprehension, and a Greek History may also be useful. Smith’sSmaller History of Greeceis very good.
TheIliadand theOdysseyare probably at least twenty-seven centuries old; and they still appeal to the human heart. Mr. Gladstone said he felt himself “in heaven when he was breathing the pure atmosphere of Homer.” And a child also can delight in their pages. The present writer will never forget the charm to her, as a little girl, of Pope’s version of theOdyssey, with outline illustrations by Flaxman.
Although theIliadand theOdysseyare poems, the translations that will appeal most strongly to English girl-readers, we think, are the prose versions by Andrew Lang and his colleagues. These are written in an exquisitely simple style, nearer to the original than the sonorous lines of Pope, Chapman, Lord Derby, Worsley, and many others.
Besides theIliadandOdyssey, which treat of the very dawn of history, there are other works of which you should know something. One might write a volume on the subject of Greek literature, but it is inopportune here to mention more than a few books. TheApology,CritoandPhædoof Plato, are translated in Dean Church’sTrial and Death of Socrates. They are dialogues telling that immortal story. The plays of Æschylus are issued in English in Morley’s Universal Library, published by Routledge at a shilling. TheAlcestisof Euripides has been beautifully translated by Robert Browning inBalaustion’s Adventure, which tells the fascinating story of the capture of a Rhodian girl by the Syracusans, and the way in which she won her liberty by reciting the playAlcestis. The plays of Euripides as a whole are well translated by Arthur S. Way, M.A. (Macmillan); and the plays of Æschylus by Dean Plumptre. Miss Anna Swanwick has rendered theAgamemnonof Æschylus into charming English.
The student of this literature will find the same names recur again and again. She will soon come to understand its scope, and live in a world of her own—not a forlorn, dry-as-dust world of ruins and ashes, but a bright glad world, which recalls Browning’s words:
“Never morn broke clear as thoseOn the dim clustered isles in the blue sea,The deep groves and white temples and wet caves.”
“Never morn broke clear as thoseOn the dim clustered isles in the blue sea,The deep groves and white temples and wet caves.”
“Never morn broke clear as thoseOn the dim clustered isles in the blue sea,The deep groves and white temples and wet caves.”
“Never morn broke clear as those
On the dim clustered isles in the blue sea,
The deep groves and white temples and wet caves.”
This world is peopled with noble men and fair women, and all they do and say is chronicled with a sweet, majestic simplicity that appeals to the heart. Sin there is, and its resulting sorrow and doom; but the lesson is that which echoes from the recurrent words in the chorus of theAgamemnon:
“Ah, may the Good prevail!”
“Ah, may the Good prevail!”
“Ah, may the Good prevail!”
“Ah, may the Good prevail!”
And when we come down to the story of Socrates, who literally died because he strove to teach that which he knew to be right, we feel that we tread on sacred ground:
“Seeking there,Calm converse with the great dead, soul to soul,Who laid up treasure with the like intent.”
“Seeking there,Calm converse with the great dead, soul to soul,Who laid up treasure with the like intent.”
“Seeking there,Calm converse with the great dead, soul to soul,Who laid up treasure with the like intent.”
“Seeking there,
Calm converse with the great dead, soul to soul,
Who laid up treasure with the like intent.”
Space forbids, or it would be possible to write pages on the delights of Greek literature. But to any girl who has leisure and inclination, the study of the Greek language itself is most strongly recommended. Translations abound, and are excellent, but the best translation cannot give the beauty of the original. The study of the lovely, flexible language is in itself an education; it is surely an inducement that the New Testament is written in comparatively easy Greek; and the wealth of literature to which Greek constitutes a title-deed may well repay hard labour.
“Can a girl learn Greek quite alone and unaided?” it may be asked. Well, it can possibly be done, but a little help is invaluable, and there are correspondence and other classes of which anyone who is in real earnest can ascertain particulars and avail herself, if she cannot get individual tuition. The task is not easy, but it is worth while to attempt it.
There is a book which, perhaps better than any other, can help the young to enter into the Greek spirit:The Heroes; Greek Fairy Tales for my Children, by Charles Kingsley. If all the other advice of our chapter proves unpalatable, surely this may be accepted, as the legends are told in the most fascinating and simple way. Nathaniel Hawthorne, inTanglewood Tales, has embodied olden legends, but in a less charming manner.
Dean Church has recounted for boys stories from Homer, Herodotus, and the Greek tragedians, also from Livy and from Virgil.
The works of Virgil, in Dryden’s translation from the Latin, are published in Morley’s Universal Library for one shilling.
Some knowledge of Latin is more frequently found among girls than a knowledge of Greek, but it seldom extends so far as to afford the enjoyment of reading the classic lore they have learnt with difficulty to spell out at school. And it must be acknowledged that the fascination of Greek literature is altogether different.
Two small books published by the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge,Epicureanism, by W. Wallace, M.A., andStoicism, by Rev. W. W. Capes, are very useful to those who wish to understand a little about the chief philosophies of the ancient world. To older readers theMeditations of Marcus Aurelius, and theDiscourses of Epictetus, will be valuable.
The subject is so vast, it is impossible to deal with it here, and it would be absurd to suppose that one brief article could be a comprehensive guide to Greek literature. But that is not needful, or intended. This point alone we wish to emphasise: that culture is altogether impossible without some idea of the mighty Past. And even the busy and the poor may in the present day obtain a glimpse into its beauty and wonder, by means of the translations we have mentioned. One such glimpse will lead on to another.
The Heroes of Asgard, by A. and E. Keary, if still in print, is almost as fascinating in its way as Kingsley’sHeroes. It treats of the Scandinavian mythology in a very attractive form, telling of Baldur the Beautiful, of Loki, Thor, and many other names that should be familiar. No one can plead ignorance of ancient lore, when the stories that embody its mythology are within the mental compass even of a child.
One benefit of the study of olden literature is this; that the mental prospect receives a background as it were. The thoughts found in Greek literature are the thoughts that now influence society; the eternal longings and aspirations of the heart of man were expressed in those days of old; while the gladness of the childhood of the world—a gladness that we know now in youth and the soft spring days, and the beauty of the earth—finds expression in immortal verse. So that of the names already mentioned, and of many others, it may well be said, in Mrs. Browning’s words:
“These were cup-bearers undying,Of the wine that’s meant for souls.”
“These were cup-bearers undying,Of the wine that’s meant for souls.”
“These were cup-bearers undying,Of the wine that’s meant for souls.”
“These were cup-bearers undying,
Of the wine that’s meant for souls.”
Lily Watson.
(To be continued.)