Foreign Poetry

[mrmod]

Do any of you guys enjoy poetry in another language, other than English?

By that I mean it was originally wrote in the poet's mother tongue and then translated? Or even in a foreign language?

I do like some works, but read them a long time ago...

[addy]

Yeah, the japanese haikus are always a favorite. There are also some pretty good translations of Pablo Neruda out there.

I guess the critical thing is that it needs to be a quality translation too, otherwise you can't appreciate the poem.

[billy]

can't say i've read to much translated works dan, if any though i know i must have.

come to think of it yes i have. (thanks addele) basho's haiku. i've read quite a few of them and a few other japanese works. not all of the haiku transalate too well though.

if you have any by any author who is out of copyrite. feel free to post them in the fave poet thread or start a new one fro poem translations.

just quote the poet and the poem.

what about tagalog poetry addy. does it translate well?
if so how about some of that.

i know we have a few non english on the boards so we could do wit a redirect to this page. in the the discussion forum.
i'll leave that to you dan seeing as it's your idea

[addy]

Hmmm... I'm having trouble recalling if I've read any Tagalog poetry translated into English . The thing is many Filipino writers can speak and write in fluent English anyway, so if they want it english they write in english, if they want it tagalog they write in tagalog. Maybe I can find some examples later.

As far as I can figure it would translate okay, but I do admit that you would probably lose a lot of what the author was going for, like alliteration and the specific rhythms. After all, Tagalog, like Japanese, is spoken with definitely beated syllables (our alphabet goes "a ba ka da eh ga ha..." with open-mouthed vowels like what you make when you open your mouth for the dentist, but cut short), as opposed to the more rolling quality of the english language. So yeah, I guess a lot of the sophistication could still be l;ost in the translation, even if the image is there.

[billy]

i think even poetry with the same syllabic slant would lose some
of it poetical devices in translation though i'm sure there must be some english poetry that is simply a translation from another language.

i'll check it out when i get home next week.

[mrmod]

With translation things do get a bit diluted down, but in some cases poetry still works well.

[srijantje]

well,i would say it becomes a new poem

[billy]

to us i agree but it should be as true as possible to the original

[mrmod]

What would you guys think of a foreign poetry thread? With translations provided of course.......

[billy]

What would you guys think of a foreign poetry thread? With translations provided of course.......

any member can do any thread as long as it's in the right place nad.

i'd say here in the poetry discussion would be the best place to do it but you can choose.

if you create a foreign poetry thread, can yo sticky it so it doesn't get lost n the discussions?

[mrmod]

any member can do any thread as long as it's in the right place nad.

i'd say here in the poetry discussion would be the best place to do it but you can choose.

if you create a foreign poetry thread, can yo sticky it so it doesn't get lost n the discussions?

I might do in the near future. However the thread will not work if not enough people are interested in foreign poetry, so I think i might wait a while - what do you think about that?

[mrmod]

there are a few portuguese poems that i'd love to post but i know i would end up not posting them 'cause only two of us would understand them (dan and bob). oh, and forget about the translation - i've had the chance to compare a few portuguese poems with their respective translations and >>> <<< that's how i felt about it.

You can always post the original and then translate to the best of your ability. I just want to know if enough people would actually be up for something like that...

And vf, this is the planning stage, nothing certain yet .

[mrmod]

You can always post the original and then translate to the best of your ability.

even professional translators fail at translating poetry so i won't even try...

As was discussed, alot is lost in translation. However, some poems are still great in other languages,imo.

Plus I know you and I know that your English is more than good enough to translate.

[billy]

most of the verse would made decent quotations in their own right.
i'll see if i can find some more later.

[mrmod]

Sorry to bring back such an old thread, but I think I'll just make it in the Fun Poetry Section (and Lyrics) if that's ok?