tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-236334828969414641.post4350094997584728283..comments2024-02-09T13:20:01.103-08:00Comments on bibliophiliac: You must change your life.bibliophiliachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15495943887513443615noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-236334828969414641.post-6824061026602426082010-04-12T16:09:36.298-07:002010-04-12T16:09:36.298-07:00Being able to read Rilke's poetry in the origi...Being able to read Rilke's poetry in the original is one incentive to learn the language. Chinese sounds intimidating, but then I would know for sure what my tattoo says. I did take Spanish in college, and Neruda is another one of my favorite poets; his work sounds completely different (more fluent, fluid, and beautiful) in Spanish.bibliophiliachttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15495943887513443615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-236334828969414641.post-40572298898132483802010-04-12T14:15:54.055-07:002010-04-12T14:15:54.055-07:00Even though I took Latin (4 years) Spanish (3) yea...Even though I took Latin (4 years) Spanish (3) years, German and Russian in college, I speak none of them anymore. There was a time I could read Latin and Spanish quite well. Of course, with Latin I was more or less left to the ancients, nevertheless, I loved reading things like Cesar's Gallic Wars. But like exercise, you have to keep it up to stay in shape. Translations can be tricky. Oh, and I loved the lines from Requiem. It reminds me of something Joan Didion said in The Year Of Magical Thinking.Gradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17526750467742207099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-236334828969414641.post-35428576716409714822010-04-12T00:49:25.850-07:002010-04-12T00:49:25.850-07:00This is something that's always in the back of...This is something that's always in the back of my mind whenever I read a translation. I always wonder, if there's something that I don't get or particularly like, if it's because the work was deficient in some way or if there's some crucial element lost in translation. <br />This would be an especially vexing problem in poetry because so much is dependent upon the sounds and rhythm of words and syllables. For instance, I've studied a quite a bit of Chinese and find that English translations of Chinese poetry, while sometimes beautiful in its own right, can't really compare to the original. The languages are so different and the speaking patterns and rhythms so disparate that accurate translations are impossibly elusive. <br />Good post!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com