Re: VIRGIL: question
Regarding the Dryden Translation:
The aesthetic qualities of a good English translation, even an inaccurate
one, represent more accurately the qualities of the poetic qualities of the
original, viewed in its totality. I am reminded of the tributes to Virgil's
poetic eloquence found in Dante's Comedy and in Tennyson's poem on Virgil
("the stateliest measure . . .."). Concurring with that praise, I have
little sympathy with translations of Virgil which are pedantically correct
but lifeless and pedestrian.
Likewise judged by the standards of poetry, we might compare the King
James translation of the Twenty-third Psalm, with a more recent but less
beautiful translation such as that of the New American Bible. The first is
awe-inspiring and luminously beautiful, while the second leaves me cold.
Come to think of it, what attracted me initially to the present website
was the web-published translation by Dr. Wilson of the Aeneid's epitaph on
the death of Palinurus. His rendition was exquisitely beautiful, and in my
opinion even better than the Dryden translation of the same passage. (I have
often wondered, incidentally, whether the same author had published a
translation of the entire Aeneid. If so, and if he maintained throughout the
quality of his Palinurus passage, his would be the best translation
available.)
Similar truth-versus-beauty distinctions occur in regard to Dante. There
are many highly accurate translations of the Comedy, but I know of only one
which rises to the level of great poetry, that of the distinguished American
poet, John Ciardi. And I would be remiss if I did not also mention the
comparative merits of the many accurate, but uninspiring, translations of
Ovid's Metamorphoses, in contrast to the delightful poetry of he Horace
Gregory translation.
It is elementary learning that much is lost in translation, but from my
point of view -- that of a general reader and an avid fan of classical
literature -- it would be better to sacrifice the semantic precision of some
of the more recent translations to the poetic charm of the Dryden
translation.
George Brunelle
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Re: VIRGIL: question
In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Robert T. White <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes >LH-S scripsit: > >>A few years ago our listowner (I think) posted some interesting >>comments about the strength and weaknesses of Dryden's version; >>unfortunately I cannot find them now. I was struck by his rendering of >>Aen. 6. 651-8: >> >>Dulces exuuiae, dum fata deusque sinebat, >>accipite hanc animam meque his exsoluite curis. >>Vixi et quem dederat cursum Fortuna peregi, >>et nunc magna mei sub terras ibit imago. >>Urbem praeclaram statui, mea moenia uidi, >>ulta uirum poenas inimico a fratre recepi; >>felix, heu nimium felix, si litora tantum >>numquam Dardaniae tetigissent nostra carinae. > >This is Book 4, I think... > Oops! Lapsus digiti. LAH-S *_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_* Leofranc Holford-Strevens 67 St Bernard's Road usque adeone Oxford scire MEVM nihil est, nisi ME scire hoc sciat alter? OX2 6EJ tel. +44 (0)1865 552808(home)/267865(work) fax +44 (0)1865 512237 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (home) [EMAIL PROTECTED] (work) *_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_* --- To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do NOT hit reply. Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the quotation marks). You can also unsubscribe at http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub
Re: VIRGIL: question
In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Simon Cauchi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes > >>A few years ago our listowner (I think) posted some interesting >>comments about the strength and weaknesses of Dryden's version; >>unfortunately I cannot find them now. > >I wonder if you are thinking of these words cited from an article by Jasper >Griffin in the TLS (17 May 1991): > >"A great English poet translated the greatest work of Latin literature. >Dryden knew Latin, he had an eminent command of English, his mind moved >naturally in tune with the rhetoric of the Latin poets; his version is >inimitable in its energy, brilliance, panache. It is, of course, now >separated from us by 300 years, and the ability to read it with pleasure is >perhaps hardly as widespread even as the ability to enjoy the original. It >is also very unlike the original in two obvious respects. Dryden's rhyming >couplets break up the varied rhythms of Virgil into a uniform movement; and >the hard cast of his mind, his deficiency in tenderness, deprives Virgil of >many of his most individual notes. >But still: there are moments, I think, when poetry into prose won't >go, and one example from Dryden can illustrate that." > >(Griffin goes on to quote West's and Dryden's translations of Aeneid 6: 882-9.) > Yes, that was it; and the comment on the hard cast of Dryden's mind exactly describes the lines I quoted. Thanks, Leofranc *_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_* Leofranc Holford-Strevens 67 St Bernard's Road usque adeone Oxford scire MEVM nihil est, nisi ME scire hoc sciat alter? OX2 6EJ tel. +44 (0)1865 552808(home)/267865(work) fax +44 (0)1865 512237 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (home) [EMAIL PROTECTED] (work) *_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_* --- To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do NOT hit reply. Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the quotation marks). You can also unsubscribe at http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub
