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Poetry in Translation >> Content Detail



Study Materials



Readings

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Each week, students examined poems that were written in a different foreign language. Students also read background information on the different languages and cultures, in order to gain an appreciation for the challenges inherant in translating poems from those languages into English. If students were able to read the poem in its original language, they were asked to prepare their own translations of the original poem.

Course readings.

WEEK #POETSPOEMSTRANSLATIONSADDITIONAL INFORMATION
1Alexander Pushkin

Background:

Aleksandr Pushkin

Pushkin's Biography
Ty i vy (You and Thou)

Ja vas lyubil (I loved you)
Ty i vy (You and Thou)

Original in Cyrillic

Online Translations:

"You and thee" - Alexandr S Pushkin

Thou and You

Ja vas lyubil (I loved you)

Original in Cyrillic

Online Translations:

Love Lyrics by Alexandr Pushkin

I Loved You

Pushkin: I loved You Once
The Alexander Pushkin Homepage
2Charles Baudelaire

Background:

Charles Baudelaire

Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867)

Poems by Charles Baudelaire

Information about Charles Baudelaire and Les Fleurs de Mal
Lecture/Seminar Schedule for 1999/2000: weeks 11 and 12 of semester 1, and weeks 1 and 2 of semester 2.

Au Lecteur

Les Aveugles

Je n'ai pas oublieé, voisine de la ville


Le Chat


Le Lethe


A une passante


Harmonie du soir


Au Lecteur

Amazon logo Baudelaire, Charles. Complete Poems. Translated by Walter Martin. Manchester, UK: Carcanet Press, 1998. ISBN: 9781857540499.

———. One Hundred Poems from Les Fleurs du mal. Translated by C. F. MacIntyre. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1947.

———. Poems; A Translation of Les Fleurs du mal. Translated by Roy Campbell. London, UK: Harvill Press, 1952.

Les Aveugles

and

Je n'ai pas oublieé, voisine de la ville

Amazon logo Baudelaire, Charles. Baudelaire in English. Edited by Carol Clark and Robert Sykes. New York, NY: Penguin Classics, 1998. ISBN: 9780140446449.

The poem from the book, Reed, Jeremy. You'd sleep with Anything, and written "after Charles Baudelaire" was also discussed.

Online Translations:

Le Chat

Le Lethe

A une passante

Harmonie du soir

Baudelaire Online

Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867)
3Frederico Garcia Lorca

Background:

Federico Garcia Lorca

Federico Garcia Lorca: Biography and Complete Work

The Academy of American Poets: Federico Garcia Lorca
La Aurora

Vuelta de Paseo

Soneto de la guirnalda de rosas; Soneto de la dulce queja

Pueblo
La Aurora

Amazon logo Garca Lorca, Federico. Selected Poems. Translated by Merryn Williams. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Bloodaxe Books, 1992. ISBN: 9781852241605.

———. Poet in New York; Complete Spanish Text. Translated by Ben Belitt. Introduced by ngel del Ro. New York, NY: Grove Press, 1997.

Amazon logo ———. The Poetical Works of Federico Garca Lorca. Edited by Christopher Maurer. New York, NY: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1988. ISBN: 9780374520830.

Vuelta de Paseo

Amazon logo Garca Lorca, Federico. The Poetical Works of Federico Garca Lorca. Edited by Christopher Mauer. New York, NY: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1988. ISBN: 9780374520830.

———. Poet in New York; Complete Spanish Text. Translated by Ben Belitt. Introduced by ngel del Ro. New York, NY: Grove Press, 1997.

Amazon logo ———. Poet in New York. Edited, Introduction, and Notes by Christopher Mauer. Translated by Greg Simon and Steven F. White. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Bilingual edition, 1998. ISBN: 9780374525408.

Soneto de la guirnalda de rosas; Soneto de la dulce queja

Amazon logo Garca Lorca, Federico. Selected Poems. Translated by Merryn Williams. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Bloodaxe Books, 1992. ISBN: 9781852241605.

Amazon logo ———. Poet in New York. Edited, Introduction, and Notes by Christopher Mauer. Translated by Greg Simon and Steven F. White. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Bilingual edition, 1998. ISBN: 9780374525408.

Pueblo

Amazon logo Garca Lorca, Federico. Selected Poems. Translated by Merryn Williams. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Bloodaxe Books, 1992. ISBN: 9781852241605.

Amazon logo ———. The Poetical Works of Federico Garca Lorca. Edited by Christopher Mauer. New York, NY: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1988. ISBN: 9780374520830.

Morpheme Tales

Further Readings

An Essay on Lorca's Sexuality and Censorship.
4Sappho

Background:

Sappho

Introduction

Isle of Lesbos

All of the Poems listed have Translations given on:

Internet Sacred Text Archive

Hymn to Aphrodite

The Moon has Set ...

Hail, Gentle Evening, that bringst back ...

That one Seems to Me the Equal of the Gods ...
Hymn to Aphrodite

This is the only complete Sappho poem we have.

Peitho's Web

Sappho (c.600 BCE)

Sappho's Hymn to Aphrodite

The Moon has Set ...

The Divine Sappho, fr. 52

Sappho 'The Moon is Down'

Hail, Gentle Evening, that bringst back ...

The Divine Sappho, fr. 95

Sappho 'Hesperus, You Bring Back Again'

That one Seems to Me the Equal of the Gods ...

The first Web site includes 26 translations of the poem, some of them into languages other than English.

Sappho: Poem of Jealousy

Sappho (c.600 BCE)

Sappho

Sappho and The World of Lesbian Poetry

Isle of Lesbos
The following site has been mentioned above and has a great collection of links to translations of Sappho poetry:

Sappho (c.600 BCE)
5Catullus

Background:

Catullus

Gaius Valerius Catullus Biography
LI. Ille mi par esse deo videtur ...

XCII, XCIII, XCIV

LXXIV. Gellius audierat, partuum obiurgare solere ...

II. Passer, deliciae meae puellae ...

CI. Mulatas per gentes et multa per aequora vectus ...

XIII. Cenabis bene, mi Fabulle apud me ...
LI. Ille mi par esse deo videtur ...

This poem is a translation of Sappho's "That one Seems to me the Equal of the Gods ... ".

Catullus, Gaius Valerius. The Poetry of Catullus. Translated by C. H. Sisson. New York, NY: Orion Press, 1967.

Amazon logo ———. Catullus. Edited, Translated, Introduced, and Notes by G. P. Goold. London, UK: Duckworth, 1983. ISBN: 9780715614358.

———. The Complete Poetry. Translated and Introduced by Frank O. Copley. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1957.

XCII, XCIII, XCIV

Amazon logo Catullus, Gaius Valerius. Catullus. Edited, Translated, Introduced, and Notes by G. P. Goold. London, UK: Duckworth, 1983. ISBN: 9780715614358.

———. The Complete Poetry. Translated and Introduced by Frank O. Copley. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1957.

———. Carmina. Translated by Barriss Mills. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Studies, 1965.

LXXIV. Gellius audierat, partuum obiurgare solere...

Catullus, Gaius Valerius. The Poetry of Catullus. Translated by C. H. Sisson. New York, NY: Orion Press, 1967.

———. Carmina. Translated by Barriss Mills. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Studies, 1965.

———. The Poems of Catullus. Translated by Horace Gregory. New York, NY: Covici-Friede, 1931.

II. Passer, deliciae meae puellae ...

Catullus, Gaius Valerius. The Poetry of Catullus. Translated by C. H. Sisson. New York, NY: Orion Press, 1967.

———. The Complete Poetry. Translated and Introduced by Frank O. Copley. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1957.

———. The Poems of Catullus. Translated by Horace Gregory. New York, NY: Covici-Friede, 1931.

CI. Mulatas per gentes et multa per aequora vectus ...

Catullus, Gaius Valerius. Carmina. Translated by Barriss Mills. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Studies, 1965.

———. The Poetry of Catullus. Translated by C. H. Sisson. New York, NY: Orion Press, 1967.

Amazon logo ———. Catullus. Edited, Translated, Introduced, and Notes by G. P. Goold. London, UK: Duckworth, 1983. ISBN: 9780715614358.

XIII. Cenabis bene, mi Fabulle apud me ...

Catullus, Gaius Valerius. The Poems of Catullus. Translated by Horace Gregory. New York, NY: Covici-Friede, 1931.

Amazon logo ———. Catullus. Edited, Translated, Introduced, and Notes by G. P. Goold. London, UK: Duckworth, 1983. ISBN: 9780715614358.

———. The Poetry of Catullus. Translated by C. H. Sisson. New York, NY: Orion Press, 1967.
Complete collection of Catullus poems, each with an English translation:

Complete list of the poems of Catullus

A Variety of Catullus Resources:

Gaius Valerius Catullus
6

Translating Asian Poetry

Students read the following chapters from Amazon logo The poem behind the poem: translating Asian poetry. Edited by Frank Stewart. Port Townsend, WA: Copper Canyon Press, 2004. ISBN: 9781556592003

The Chinese Poem: The Visible and the Invisible in Chinese Poetry, by
Michelle Yeh

Forms Transformed: Japanese Verse in English Translation, by Hiroaki Sato

Midwifing the Underpoem, by Leza Lowitz

Once More, on the Empty Mountain, by J. P. Seaton

The Poem Behind the Poem: Literary Translation as American Poetry, by Tony
Barnstone

A Poem Should Mean and Be: Remarks on the Translation of
Japanese Poetry
, by William I. Elliott

Sustenance: A Life in Translation, by Sam Hamill

Haiku

Rather than comparing a large number of haikus translations, the class read a variety of haikus from different eras, both from Japan and other countries.

Background:

Haiku

Error Message Haikus

Classic Japanese Haiku

Miscellaneous

Modern Japanese Haiku

Modern International Haiku

Error Message Haikus

These haikus illustrate the kinds of stereotypes Americans have about the haiku form.

Haiku Error Messages

Classic Japanese Haiku

Amazon logo Matsuo, Bashō. The Essential Bashō. Translated by Sam Hamill. Boston, MA: Shambhala, 1999, pp. 116-119, 142, 143, 152, and 153. ISBN: 9781570622823.

Ueda, Makoto. Matsuo Bashō. New York, NY: Twayne Publishers, 1970, pp. 60-61.

Miscellaneous

Amazon logo Addiss, Stephen, Fumiko Yamamoto, and Akira Yamamoto. Haiku People: Big and Small in Poems and Prints. New York, NY: Weatherhill, 1998, pp. 50. ISBN: 9780834804173.

Amazon logo Clements, Jonathan, tr. The Moon in the Pines: Zen Haiku. Selected by Jonathan Clements. Studio; 1st American ed edition, 2000, pp. 75. ISBN: 9780670892297.

Modern Japanese Haiku

Amazon logo Stryk, Lucien, tr. Cage of Fireflies: Modern Japanese Haiku. Swallow Press, 1993. ISBN: 9780804009775.

Modern International Haiku

Amazon logo Kacian, Jim, ed. Pegging The Wind. Winchester, VA: Red Moon Press, 2003, pp. 26, 27, 44, 45, 60, 61, 74, and 75. ISBN: 9781893959323.

Simply Haiku

Haiku for People

Haiku, Haibun, Haiga, Photohaiku, Arthaiku

Robert Hass on Haiku
7Li Bai (Li Po)

Background:

Chinese Poetry

Shi(Poetry)

Li Bai

Du Fu

Background:

Du Fu
Li Bai (Li Po)

Sitting Alone on Chingting Mountain

Amusing Myself

Hearing a Monk of Shu Play the Lute

Du Fu

Spring Prospect

Night at the Tower

Staying Overnight at the Chancellery in Spring
Li Bai (Li Po)

Sitting Alone on Chingting Mountain

Amazon logo Pine, Red, tr. Poems of the Masters = Qian jia shi: China's Classic Anthology of T'ang and Sung Dynasty Verse. Port Townsend, WA: Copper Canyon Press, 2003. ISBN: 9781556591952.

Amazon logo Liu, Wu-Chi, and Irving Yucheng Lo, eds. Sunflower Splendor: Three Thousand Years of Chinese Poetry. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1990. ISBN: 9780253355805.

Amusing Myself

Amazon logo Whincup, Greg, comp. The Heart of Chinese Poetry. New York, NY: Anchor Press, 1987. ISBN: 9780385239677.

Amazon logo Liu, Wu-Chi, and Irving Yucheng Lo, eds. Sunflower Splendor: Three Thousand Years of Chinese Poetry. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1990. ISBN: 9780253355805.

Hearing a Monk of Shu Play the Lute

Amazon logo Whincup, Greg, comp. The Heart of Chinese Poetry. New York, NY: Anchor Press, 1987. ISBN: 9780385239677.

Amazon logo Liu, Wu-Chi, and Irving Yucheng Lo, eds. Sunflower Splendor: Three Thousand Years of Chinese Poetry. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1990. ISBN: 9780253355805.

Du Fu

Spring Prospect

Amazon logo Whincup, Greg, comp. The Heart of Chinese Poetry. New York, NY: Anchor Press, 1987. ISBN: 9780385239677.

Amazon logo Liu, Wu-Chi, and Irving Yucheng Lo, eds. Sunflower Splendor: Three Thousand Years of Chinese Poetry. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1990. ISBN: 9780253355805.

Night at the Tower

Amazon logo Sze, Arthur, ed. The Silk Dragon: Translations from the Chinese. Port Townsend, WA: Copper Canyon Press, 2001. ISBN: 9781556591532.

Staying Overnight at the Chancellery in Spring

Amazon logo Whincup, Greg, comp. The Heart of Chinese Poetry. New York, NY: Anchor Press, 1987. ISBN: 9780385239677.

Amazon logo Pine, Red, tr. Poems of the Masters = Qian jia shi: China's Classic Anthology of T'ang and Sung Dynasty Verse. Port Townsend, WA: Copper Canyon Press, 2003. ISBN: 9781556591952.
Du Fu Index

Li Bai Index

[504] About Tu Fu
8Old and Middle English

Background:

Old English language

Middle English

Anonymous (Middle English)

Background:

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Sir Gawain and the Green KnightAmazon logo Merwin, W. S., tr. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A New Verse Translation. 1st ed. Knopf, 2002. ISBN: 9780375414763.

Amazon logo Stone, Brian, tr. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin Books, 1959. ISBN: 9780140440928. Lines read: 1-55, 1181-1240, 2265-2326.
Language:

Middle English Dictionary

Literature:

Anthology of Middle English Literature (1350-1485)

Anonymous (Middle English)

Full Original Text:

The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Canterbury Tales and Other Poems by Geoffrey Chaucer

Prose Translations:

Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

Representative Poetry Online
9Geoffrey Chaucer

Background:

Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales
The Canterbury TalesSections read: The General Prologue through line 42, The Wife of Bath's Prologue, The Cook's Prologue and The Cook's Tale.
This work should be read in the original, in addition to the translations. For example, the following is a recent edition:

Amazon logo Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. Edited, Introduced, and Notes by Jill Mann. London, UK: Penguin Classics, 2005. ISBN: 9780140422344.

Amazon logo ———. The Canterbury Tales. Translated into modern English by Nevill Coghill. London, UK: Penguin Classics, 2003. ISBN: 9780140424386.

Amazon logo ———. Canterbury Tales. Translated into modern English by J. U. Nicolson. Dover Publications; New Ed edition., 2004. ISBN: 9780486431628.
Audio Recordings:

The Criyng and The Soun

Original Text:

The Canterbury Tales

Geoffrey Chaucer (1342-1440) "The Canterbury Tales"
10Anonymous (Old English)

Background:

Beowulf
BeowulfLines read: 1-52, 688-735, 3137-end.

Amazon logo Heaney, Seamus, tr. Beowulf: A New Verse Translation. New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 2001. ISBN: 9780393320978.

Amazon logo Donoghue, Daniel, ed. Beowulf: A Verse Translation: Authoritative Text, Contexts, Criticism. Translated by Seamus Heaney. New York: W.W. Norton, 2001. ISBN: 9780393975802.

Amazon logo M. Anderson, Sarah. Beowulf. Translated by Alan Sullivan and Timothy Murphy. New York, NY: Pearson/Longman, 2004. ISBN: 9780321107206.

Amazon logo F. Huppé, Bernard, tr. Beowulf, a New Translation. Binghamton, NY: Longman, 2004. ISBN: 9780321107206.

Copy of the original Beowulf text.

Audio recordings of the Old English version of Beowulf.

University of Virginia audio recordings of Beowulf in Old English.

Recording of Seamus Heaney reading excerpts from his translation of Beowulf.

11

Rumi

Background:

Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi

Sufism

Ghazal

Omar Khayyám

The class read selections from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyám.

Background:

Omar Khayyám

Rubaiyat

Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyám

Rumi

Ghazal 1919 (This is Love ...)

A Thief in the Night/And He is With Us

Ghazal 116

Omar Khayyám

Selected Rubaiyat

Rumi

Ghazal 1919 (This is Love ...)

Rumi: A Translation in Comparison

Jalūl ad-Din Rūumi,Amazon logo Maulana. Love is a Stranger: Selected Lyric Poetry of Jelaluddin Rumi. Translated by Kabir Edmund Helminski. Putney, VT: Threshold Books, c1993. ISBN: 9780939660322.

A Thief in the Night / And He is With Us

Divani Shamsi Tabriz

Jalūl ad-Din Rūumi,Amazon logo Maulana. Love is a Stranger: Selected Lyric Poetry of Jelaluddin Rumi. Translated by Kabir Edmund Helminski. Putney, VT: Threshold Books, c1993. ISBN: 9780939660322.

Ghazal 116

Rumi 116

Jalūl ad-Din Rūumi,Amazon logo Maulana. Love is a Stranger: Selected Lyric Poetry of Jelaluddin Rumi. Translated by Kabir Edmund Helminski. Putney, VT: Threshold Books, c1993. ISBN: 9780939660322.

Omar Khayyám

The Rubaiyat are numbered differently in different translations, so the numbers of the Rubaiyat read are given separately for each translation under the citation.

Fitzgerald's translation, second edition:

623. Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam of Naishapur - Rubaiyat Number: 1, 12, 19, 58, and 72.

Fitzgerald's translation, fifth edition (first also available here):

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayam - Rubaiyat Number: 1, 12, 19, 58, and 72.

Medieval Sourcebook: Omar Khayyam (d. 1123 CE): The Rubaiyat, c. 1120 - Rubaiyat Number: 452, 104, and 284.

[750] The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

A number of translations of the Rubaiyat numbered 12 by Fitzgerald, all of which are to be read.

Khayyam, Omar. Omar Khayyám, a new version based upon recent discoveries. Translated by Arthur J. Arberry. London, UK: J. Murray, 1952. Rubaiyat Number: 66, 161, 247, 107, 190. Also discussion on pp. 18, 19.

———. The Romance of the Rubaiyat. Translated by Edward Fitzgerald's. Introduced and Notes by A. J. Arberry. London, UK: G. Allen and Unwin, 1959.

Rumi

Love Poems of Rumi

A Tribute to Molana Jalal-e-Din Mohammad Molavi Rumi

Rumi

Recordings:

Ghazals from Diwan of Shems

Omar Khayyám

The Keeper: The Legend of Omar Khayyam

12

Selected Papiamento (language) poets

Selected Afrikaans (Language) poets


Selected Swahili (Language) poets

Papiamento Poets

Gladys do Rego-Kuster

Imelda Valerianus-Fermina

Belen Kock-Marchena

Afrikaans Poets
Antjie Krog


Swahili Poets

Traditional (Anonymous)

Papiamento Poems

Amazon logo Creation fire: a CAFRA Anthology of Caribbean Women's Poetry. Edited by Ramabai Espinet. Toronto, Canada: Sister Vision, 1991. ISBN: 9780920813027.

Gladys do Rego-Kuster, "Poem"

Imelda Valerianus-Fermina, "Muhe" ("Woman")

Belen Kock-Marchena, "Poem"

Afrikaans Poems

Antjie Krog, "Neither Family Nor Friends"


Antjie Krog,
"My Words of Love Grow More Tenuous than the Sound of Lilac"

Swahili Poems
Anonymous,
The Swahili Coast

Background:

Papiamento

Afrikaans Language

Afrikaans Translation



Swahili Language

Swahili Poetry

13


Student Presentations

Student Presentations

Student PresentationsStudent Presentations

 








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