06-19-2016, 01:21 PM
I actually have a little information to contribute here. When I first started writing "poetry" in high school -- the kind of writing I prefer to keep locked in a closet -- I was also taking Latin classes. My teachers decided to spend two full years reading and translating Latin poetry. Primarily Catullus, for many reasons, but a little Virgil as well. The greatest effect comes from three different things: 1, knowing the language is still important. If you don't know it, I suggest reading an analysis of original version. 2, accurate translations without any embellishment. This tells you exactly what the poem is saying. If you also know the language well enough, you can catch some double meanings and little ambiguities. 3, reading poetic translations as well -- just don't take them literally.
Often times there is no easy translation for words and phrases. Idiomatic expressions usually fail in translation. Catullus 16 is rather well know and was an obvious favorite to the class of highschoolers -- translating pedicabo and irrumabo into English can take a little creativity. Even worse is the "poetic license" that allows for hapax legomenon to exist. Basiationes (from Catullus 7) has usually been translated as "kissification," but there is no literal translation.
In Catullus 2 and other subsequent poems, the sparrow may at first seem like an innocent pet bird. But Catullus was a neoteric poet, an Alexandrian, he and his subject ("Lesbia") were familiar with the Greek language and Greek poetry. The Greek word for sparrow (at least in his time) has a second meaning, in the same way that s couple of select synonyms for cats and roosters have secondary meanings in English.
My last professor's favorite example when speaking of translated poetry came from Robert Fagles. Fagles translates the Iliad into English and borrows an interesting phrase from Yeats. But rather than explain it myself, I think the article says just enough with no more.
To understand the images as they are written, a literal and accurate translation is key.
To understand the artistry involved, knowing the language is key.
(Good) Poetic translations can serve to highlight key moments in a foreign piece, potentially enhancing or clarifying otherwise obscure meanings.
(This is speaking only from my own experience)
Often times there is no easy translation for words and phrases. Idiomatic expressions usually fail in translation. Catullus 16 is rather well know and was an obvious favorite to the class of highschoolers -- translating pedicabo and irrumabo into English can take a little creativity. Even worse is the "poetic license" that allows for hapax legomenon to exist. Basiationes (from Catullus 7) has usually been translated as "kissification," but there is no literal translation.
In Catullus 2 and other subsequent poems, the sparrow may at first seem like an innocent pet bird. But Catullus was a neoteric poet, an Alexandrian, he and his subject ("Lesbia") were familiar with the Greek language and Greek poetry. The Greek word for sparrow (at least in his time) has a second meaning, in the same way that s couple of select synonyms for cats and roosters have secondary meanings in English.
My last professor's favorite example when speaking of translated poetry came from Robert Fagles. Fagles translates the Iliad into English and borrows an interesting phrase from Yeats. But rather than explain it myself, I think the article says just enough with no more.
To understand the images as they are written, a literal and accurate translation is key.
To understand the artistry involved, knowing the language is key.
(Good) Poetic translations can serve to highlight key moments in a foreign piece, potentially enhancing or clarifying otherwise obscure meanings.
(This is speaking only from my own experience)
If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room.
"Or, if a poet writes a poem, then immediately commits suicide (as any decent poet should)..." -- Erthona
"Or, if a poet writes a poem, then immediately commits suicide (as any decent poet should)..." -- Erthona