human
Nibelungenlied of the Germans, the
gpt
Chronicle of the Cid of the Spanish, the
human
Chansons de Gestes, the
gpt
Romans, and the
human
Fabliaux of the French, and
gpt
Beowulf and the
human
Morte D'Arthur of English literature. These great poems are the sources of a vast portion of what is best in subsequent art. From them Virgil, Boccaccio, Chaucer, Rabelais, Molière, Shakspeare, Calderon, and a host of others have drawn their inspiration. Malory has wrought the Arthurian songs into a mould of the purest English. The closing books, in their quiet pathos and reserved strength,--in their melody, winged words, and inimitable turns of phrase,--rank with the best poetry of Europe. Southey called the
gpt
Cid the finest poem in the Spanish language, and Prescott said it was
human
This may be going rather too far; but it certainly stands in the very front rank of national poems. It has been translated by Lockhart in verse, by Southey in prose, and there is a splendid fragment by Frere. Of the French early epics, the
gpt
Chanson de Roland and the
human
Roman du Renart are the best. The
gpt
Nibelungenlied is the embodiment of the wild and tragic,--the highest note of the barbaric drama of the North. That last terrific scene in the Hall of Etzel will rest forever in the memory of every reader of the book. Carlyle has given a sketch of the poem in his
human
Miscellanies, vol. iii., and there exists a complete but prolix and altogether miserable translation of the great epic, but we sadly need a condensed version of the myth of
gpt
Siegfried the brave, and
human
Chriemhild