Rendering Homer
According to the historian John Julius Norwich, the most beautiful line in the entire Iliad comes in Book VII, after the single combat between Hector and Ajax; night is falling, and the herald Idaeus...
View ArticleMarías and Hofstadter on the philosophy of translation
The narrator of Javier Marías’ Corazón tan blanco (A Heart So White) is a translator and interpreter at the UN. At one point early in the book he makes the following rather curious assertion: ‘Y es...
View ArticleTranslating Hernández
Que me aconseje el mar lo que tengo que hacer: si matar, si querer. Small poems, like small dogs, are often the ones that give you the biggest headache. Take this short poem – fourteen words – by...
View ArticleTed Hughes on translating poetry
Today I want to share an extract from an essay by Ted Hughes in the third issue of Modern Poetry in Translation (Spring 1967), a journal he set up in order to…well, the name says it all. Italics mine:...
View ArticleSoneto de Repente
Today, a treat for poetry lovers: the results of a translation challenge between Colin (polymath polyglot and QuickSilver President) and Estrella Whiteley. The idea was for Colin to render a Spanish...
View ArticleThe Ruined Maid
On Monday, we shared QuickSilver president Colin Whiteley’s translation of a sonnet by Lope de Vega. Below you will find Estrella Whiteley’s response, a rendering of Thomas Hardy’s The Ruined Maid....
View ArticleThe Troubadours 1: entrebescant los mots…
Thanks to my local library, I have been reading the medieval Troubadours. (The Wikipedia entry is in this case excellent, so I recommend you head there if you want a more in-depth overview.) The...
View ArticleThe Troubadours 2: a poem in 5 languages
Here is a poem, or rather a song, which is written in five languages, with one verse each: Provençal, Italian, French, Gascon and Galician. The sixth verse is written in all these languages, in the...
View ArticleThree versions of Sappho’s Poem of Jealousy
My muse, what ails this ardour? Mine eys be dym, my lymbs shake, My voice is hoarse, my throte scorcht, My tong to this roofe cleaves, My fancy amazde, my thoughtes dull’d, My head doth ake, my life...
View ArticleA poem in five languages
Here is a poem, or rather a song, which is written in five languages, with one verse each: Provençal, Italian, French, Gascon and Galician. The sixth verse is written in all these languages, in the...
View ArticleMarías and Hofstadter on the philosophy of translation
The narrator of Javier Marías’ Corazón tan blanco (A Heart So White) is a translator and interpreter at the UN. At one point early in the book he makes the following rather curious assertion: ‘Y es...
View ArticleTranslating Hernández
Que me aconseje el mar lo que tengo que hacer: si matar, si querer. Small poems, like small dogs, are often the ones that give you the biggest headache. Take this short poem – fourteen words – by...
View ArticleTed Hughes on translating poetry
Today I want to share an extract from an essay by Ted Hughes in the third issue of Modern Poetry in Translation (Spring 1967), a journal he set up in order to…well, the name says it all. Italics mine:...
View ArticleSoneto de Repente
Today, a treat for poetry lovers: the results of a translation challenge between Colin (polymath polyglot and QuickSilver President) and Estrella Whiteley. The idea was for Colin to render a Spanish...
View ArticleThe Ruined Maid
On Monday, we shared QuickSilver president Colin Whiteley’s translation of a sonnet by Lope de Vega. Below you will find Estrella Whiteley’s response, a rendering of Thomas Hardy’s The Ruined Maid....
View ArticleThe Troubadours 1: entrebescant los mots…
Thanks to my local library, I have been reading the medieval Troubadours. (The Wikipedia entry is in this case excellent, so I recommend you head there if you want a more in-depth overview.) The...
View ArticleThe Troubadours 2: a poem in 5 languages
Here is a poem, or rather a song, which is written in five languages, with one verse each: Provençal, Italian, French, Gascon and Galician. The sixth verse is written in all these languages, in the...
View ArticleThree versions of Sappho’s Poem of Jealousy
My muse, what ails this ardour? Mine eys be dym, my lymbs shake, My voice is hoarse, my throte scorcht, My tong to this roofe cleaves, My fancy amazde, my thoughtes dull’d, My head doth ake, my life...
View ArticleA poem in five languages
Here is a poem, or rather a song, which is written in five languages, with one verse each: Provençal, Italian, French, Gascon and Galician. The sixth verse is written in all these languages, in the...
View ArticleTop five language learning questions answered
Learning a new language can seem like a difficult task. But when you go through the process you will enjoy the rewarding experiences that a new language will offer you. However, next time you come...
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