Imbolc \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Valentine Moon<\/p>\n
Finished the Deucalion and Pyrrha story in the Metamorphoses. \u00a0This is Ovid’s flood narrative, one he shares with other classical writers, the Enuma Elish and, most famously in our culture, Genesis. \u00a0Unlike the other long passages I’ve translated I’m stopping here and returning immediately to the beginning. \u00a0My goal this second time (third in the case of some of the verses) through is to work on polishing, creating as pleasing an English form for Ovid’s work as I can. \u00a0This will force me into the nuances of translating rather than the brute force, literal work I’ve done up until now.<\/p>\n
(L\u00e9on-Fran\u00e7ois COMERRE (1850-1916)<\/p>\n
My pace has picked up though it’s not yet where I want it, but I’m still very much focused on the grammar and the syntax, trying to produce a faithful and mostly literal translation of Ovid’s Latin. \u00a0This is a distance from a good English translation for several reasons. \u00a0The range of meanings for each word. \u00a0The syntactical demands of Latin and English. \u00a0Certain grammatical constructions that don’t appear in English or become clumsy when translated. \u00a0The fact that Ovid wrote for an audience with far different background knowledge and expectations of poetry than ours. \u00a0The meaning of the work in its own time and the inevitable distortion of it when read in ours. \u00a0And so on.<\/p>\n
None of these are insuperable. \u00a0There are many translations of so many works. \u00a0Yet each does a certain violence to the home text, wrenching it out of its natural medium and forcibly inserting it in another. \u00a0Translating is both art and skill. \u00a0I’m finally getting the skill necessary to give the art a try.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Imbolc \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Valentine Moon Finished the Deucalion and Pyrrha story in the Metamorphoses. \u00a0This is Ovid’s flood narrative, one he shares with other … Continue reading Apres Deluge<\/span>