tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post6700742193959124834..comments2022-11-06T06:41:30.462-05:00Comments on Prufrock's Dilemma: “Verlaine? He’s hidden in the grass, Verlaine”Susan Scheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-89566008465087335512011-09-18T22:56:15.218-04:002011-09-18T22:56:15.218-04:00To all: Your perspectives on handling (or not han...To all: Your perspectives on handling (or not handling!) poetry in translation are wonderful and greatly enhanced my little post.<br /><br />To each in turn:<br /><br />Jenny: Thank you for stopping by. How right you are that every language has its own character—and hence the problem in trying to translate. White’s description of English in that regard was one I was particularly pleased to Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-24387461537935996512011-09-15T20:36:09.869-04:002011-09-15T20:36:09.869-04:00Oh my, perhaps a case of lost in translation.
And ...Oh my, perhaps a case of lost in translation.<br />And now I've got memories of French class and conjugating the verb être.<br />Mon dieu....klahaniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08613505424843475639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-68835090053006219382011-09-15T01:24:00.507-04:002011-09-15T01:24:00.507-04:00I agree those original French words convey a poeti...I agree those original French words convey a poetic image impossible to re-create in translation. You took me back to my schooldays when I first heard their music. Thanks.♥Jinksyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01686101468214361004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-40763309645013814072011-09-14T18:49:37.443-04:002011-09-14T18:49:37.443-04:00You have another winner! Listened to both renditi...You have another winner! Listened to both renditions and admire the clearly pronounced words and phrases. It was fun to read the poem while listening to the singers. If I repeated the process often enough it might be possible to acquire a passable French accent!<br /><br />Right from the photo at the beginning of the piece you had my attention. All I can say is, "Brilliant!"cybersrnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-74795030940203241462011-09-14T13:47:40.960-04:002011-09-14T13:47:40.960-04:00I'm sure Sue will come back to you, Mark, if s...I'm sure Sue will come back to you, Mark, if she's a regular user of Spotify, but I can vouch that it has a pretty extraordinary catalogue - I use it to hear pieces I need to hear immediately, and I've given up buying the mp3 downloads (Amazon is better for that).<br /><br />As for poetry on Spotify, of that I'm not qualified to speak. I don't know Grooveshark but why not haveDavidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-75197136049430243112011-09-13T19:38:49.487-04:002011-09-13T19:38:49.487-04:00Friko is right - you should learn the language of ...Friko is right - you should learn the language of the poet if you want to read them, but even that is not fool-proof. Some poets make heavy use of native colloquialisms and patterns of speech. Still, it's the best way. I prefer books that place the translation on a page opposite the original, so that I can plod in my clumsy way through the French, German or what have you. But since English isMark Kerstetterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13307987573435067415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-74778115791799060242011-09-13T18:11:42.934-04:002011-09-13T18:11:42.934-04:00Fascinating points. I reckon every book of transla...Fascinating points. I reckon every book of translated poems should have the original on the opposite page - if only there were world enough and time for us to be conversant in all the languages of the poets we love. I get a sense of it when listening to musical settings with the translations to hand - do you know George Crumb's Lorca, for instance - but I do feel the want of a basic groundingDavidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-90813626326315546882011-09-13T12:59:03.218-04:002011-09-13T12:59:03.218-04:00I learned French from Verlaine (and Faure and Debu...I learned French from Verlaine (and Faure and Debussy). His poems have been successfully set by other composers too. That's the closest "translation" that I think can be applied successfully to Verlaine!<br /><br />Here's a listing of 142 settings of his poems:<br /><br />http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/v/verlaine/Elaine Finehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14248422399226824168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-43239086374200132392011-09-13T06:32:05.022-04:002011-09-13T06:32:05.022-04:00(Sorry I am so late in commenting; I've been f...(Sorry I am so late in commenting; I've been finishing an article for which the deadline is NOW.)<br /><br />Susan, I must most heartily thank you for proving my point. None of those translations quoted comes anywhere near the easy, light as air, lines of Verlaine.<br />The subject is bitter-sweet, why did not one of the translators bring out the melancholy notes?<br /><br />Best thing is, Frikohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04277167831642088694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-68230323448818196972011-09-12T21:16:44.770-04:002011-09-12T21:16:44.770-04:00I think a translation is arguably its own poem.I think a translation is arguably its own poem.Suzehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07908805179119217608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-17192966108464931342011-09-12T17:50:32.939-04:002011-09-12T17:50:32.939-04:00Every language has its own character. Surely a goo...Every language has its own character. Surely a good poet will bring out the particular qualities of the language in which they write. <br /><br />Perhaps the best way to handle translations would be to take a literal translation and read it at the same time as hearing the poem read in its original language.<br /><br />After all that is how we do understand a foreign language - not by making Jenny Woolfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16881781466502273314noreply@blogger.com