Research into poetry translation dominates translation studies (Jones, 2011:181), due to the genre’s high status (Bassnett, 2002:114) and the “rich variety of problems” (Jones, 2011:182) it poses translators. This essay will discuss the challenges faced by poetry translators - both those which all literary translators encounter and those specifically relevant to poetry. I will illustrate my points by referring to Roy Campbell’s translation (Fleurs du mal, 2014) of Baudelaire’s 1861 poem L’Albatros and James Kirkup’s translation (University of Pennsylvania, 2014) of Apollinaire’s 1912 poem Le pont Mirabeau (see Appendix). Due to space constraints, I will focus solely on issues associated with the translation process itself, rather than …show more content…
Arguably the translator should, in most cases, aim to reproduce the source text author’s style (Landers, 2001:90) rather than impose his or her own (ibid.:91), however the translator’s style will invariably influence the translation due to what Jones (2009:153) calls the translator’s “cultural space-time,” which will differ from that of the source text author. However in some situations the translator may wish to translate the source text into a different style, for example if the source text style is not compatible with target-culture norms (see below), although the translator should be wary of ‘normalizing’ the target text, particularly if the source text uses what the source culture would define as “non-standard styles,” as “normalizing arguably risks losing the style’s textual function” (ibid.:153).
According to Jones (ibid.:153), “the question is whether translators can ever replicate the complex web of stylistic features found in many literary texts. If not, what should translators prioritize?”. Some of the “stylistic features” which are most prevalent, especially in poetry, are the structural ‘form’ of the text, ‘sound effects’ such as rhyme, metre, and alliteration, and figurative techniques such as metaphor. Lefevere (1992:37) emphasizes that, as well as deciding which of these features to prioritize, the translator has to decide whether the “sound” of the poem in general (i.e. its semantics, the combination of these features) should take higher
Richard Blanco is a Cuban- American poet who was given the oppurunity to write an inaugaration poem for Barack Obama's second swearing-in. He wrote a poem titled "One Today" that praised the good and unique things about the United States and also the everyday people who's daily routines help to make America the proud country that it is.
Frost further points out that the stretch of woods being viewed is very rural. This is made possible by the reference to the location between the woods and frozen lake. In closing the final sentence of the second stanza Frost reiterates the fact that this occurs on “the darkest evening of the year” stating the darkness of the mood.
Lorna Dee Cervantes' poem, “Poema para los Californios Muertos” (“Poem for the Dead Californios”), is a commentary on what happened to the original inhabitants of California when California was still Mexico, and an address to the speaker's dead ancestors. Utilizing a unique dynamic, consistently alternating between Spanish and English, Cervantes accurately represents the fear, hatred, and humility experienced by the “Californios” through rhythm, arrangement, tone, and most importantly, through use of language.
In this essay I am going to compare and contrast ‘When we two parted’ a poem of George Gordon, Lord Byron’s written in 1815 and Letitia Elizabeth Landon’s ‘Love’s last lesson’ written in c1838, both poets are British and of the romantic period.
11. A poet can work its magic on the reader by “choice of images, music of the language, idea content, and cleverness of wordplay” (Foster 17).
One of the greatest poetic minds of the 20th Century once said, “Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality. But, of course, only those who have personality and emotions know what it means to want to escape from these things.” It was Solari’s chief aspiration to show this to the world. “The Death and Transfiguration of a Teacher” was the story of a classroom full of children that slaughtered their teacher out of the clear blue, and then, “cannibalistically disposed of her remains.”(Solari 198) The children are then individually questioned,
Prompt: Read the following two poems very carefully, noting that the second includes an allusion to the first. Then write a well-organized essay in which you discuss their similarities and differences. In your essay, be sure to consider both theme and style.
Many people analyze a poem and desperately try to find the meaning of it. In “Introduction to Poetry,” Billy Collins uses personification, metaphors, and diction to demonstrate that poetry often loses some of its joy when it is over-analyzed for its meaning.
This paper will define imagery, metaphors, rhyme and structure and will also discuss the importance of figurative language in poetry and how it communicates to the reader.
Reflections Within is a non-traditional stanzaic poem made up of five stanzas containing thirty-four lines that do not form a specific metrical pattern. Rather it is supported by its thematic structure. Each of the five stanzas vary in the amount of lines that each contain. The first stanza is a sestet containing six lines. The same can be observed of the second stanza. The third stanza contains eight lines or an octave. Stanzas four and five are oddly in that their number of lines which are five and nine.
In the poems “Pamphillia to Amphilanthus” and “I… and Your Eyes,” there are similarities and differences. The poems are both about love. The poems have different perspectives on how they view love. The poems have the same subject, but in contrast have differences of how the subject is viewed. The poems’ styles and theme also have differences and similarities. Love is perceived differently in each poem.
In the poem “Ballad of Birmingham”, by Dudley Randall, many different things can be analyzed. The difference in the two translations; one being a literal translation, telling the true meaning of the poem, and the other being a thematic translation, which tells the author’s theme and symbolism used in his/her work. Another thing that all poets have in common is the usage of poetic devices; such as similes, metaphors, and personification.
Poetry is a reduced dialect that communicates complex emotions. To comprehend the numerous implications of a ballad, perusers must analyze its words and expressing from the points of view of beat, sound, pictures, clear importance, and suggested meaning. Perusers then need to sort out reactions to the verse into a consistent, point-by-point clarification. Poetry utilizes structures and traditions to propose differential translation to words, or to summon emotive reactions. Gadgets, for example, sound similarity, similar sounding word usage, likeness in sound and cadence are at times used to accomplish musical or incantatory impacts.
In my preparation for this essay I thought that there was going to be very little that I would learn about the elements of poetry. This is not because I am an expert and have nothing new to learn, but rather the opposite. I have never really spent the time to break down and appreciate poetry. One of the reasons I think that I haven’t spent the time on poetry is due to my reading habits. I usually read to gather information and poetry is on the other end of the spectrum. Fredrick Gruber sums this up, “Poetry tends to give general truths while history gives particular facts.” (Gruber) Having said all of this though, I did see a couple of things that I could apply to my own writing. I will first start off with some elements of poetry that I
Some of the poems and essays I have read during this class were relatable to me. Being away from college, I have struggled with not being at home. I have become a different person when I am at school, but when I am home, I feel like I am my normal self again. Some of these authors of the poems and essays that I have read throughout this class has struggled with being somewhere where they don’t belong and that they are someone else when they are not home. Unlike the other poems and essays we have read throughout the course. I enjoyed reading the ones about “home” because I actually understood what they are going through and that I can relate. Some of these poems and essays include “Going Home” by Maurice Kenny, Postcard from Kashmir”, by Agha Shahid Ali, “Returning” by Elias Miguel Munoz and “Hometown” by Luis Cabalquinto. All of these poems deal with duality.