I can't think of a more difficult job for a translator than translating poetry. Unlike prose it's not just a simple matter of turning one language into another; you also have to worry about conveying whatever ideas are suggested but not spelt out in the poem. How many times have you read a poem where the poet has made use of a word's dual meanings, or the combining of words in a specific way, to suggest something other than the literal meaning of the words in question? There's almost no way you can do a literal translation in those circumstances. On top of that you also have to worry about staying true to the form of the original poem.
While that's definitely not an easy job, a sure fire way of compounding it is if the poetry in question happens to have been written in a language that's no longer in current usage and by writers whose culture has little or nothing in common with your own. For the last couple of weeks I've been working my way through a deceptively slim volume published by the New York University Press of four works written in Sanskrit from Southern India dating from between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, "Self Surrender", "Peace," "Compassion," & "The Mission Of The Grey Goose": Poems and Prayers From South India. Translators, and Sanskrit scholars, David Shulman and Yigal Bronner have not only taken on the task of translating four pieces from the classical Indian cannon, the items in question represent the work of three pre-eminent philosopher/poets, one from the Vaishnavas tradition of Hinduism, who worshipped Vishnu as the original and supreme being, and two whose worship was directed more towards the god Shiva.
Vedanta Deshika reportedly lived to be 101 (1268 - 1369) and has contributed two pieces to this collection, the story poem "The Mission of The Goose" and "Compassion" with its ironic sub-title "The Iron Shackles Of Mercy." Appayya Dikshita and his nephew (or grandson - there seems to be some dispute about this as a couple of sites refer to him as the latter) Nila-katha Dikshita lived close to two hundred years after Deshika, 1520 -1592 for the elder and 1580 - 1644 for the younger, and their contributions to the book are "Self Surrender" and "Peace," respectively. While the former reflects the author's devotion to Shiva, the younger poet's work is more along the lines of what we would consider satire as it details the lack of peace in his life due to his association with a ruler and his court.
Article comments
1 - Suzan Abrams
I have enjoyed numerous translation works especially that of Middle-Eastern & Italian fiction & ancient Persian poetry and derived immense pleasure from them. You can't tar all translators with the same brush just because you struggled with one who to you, appeared ill-equipped. By all means, exercise your free will to stick to your own culture. But let us exercise our wills individually. It doesn't mean that your future loss of ability to enjoy international writing should become ours too.
2 - Jennifer Bogart
Interesting review Marcus - picking up some light beach reading are we? ;)
I've read the works of another Hindu author - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and he also refers to a Hindu god as "God" in his works, though I think in his case it was intentionally deceptive, as he was pushing TM as a 'religion-free' religion. He was definitely trying to make some ecumenical bridges that would brings folks over into his camp.
In any case, interesting isn't it, how we get this picture of God in our mind about being a big bearded guy in the sky? I had the same feeling as a child, and haven't yet been able to shake it, but as I read the Bible for myself, I see that it clearly says no such thing. Interesting to say the least. In fact we're told that when God spoke to the Hebrews from out of Mount Sinai they saw no form, neither man, nor woman, nor beast, nor bird, and as such they should make no representation of God to worship. We're also told that He's a spirit (yes, typically male pronouns, but in some instances of His name in Hebrew we find elements of the male and female, also check Genesis 1:27, He created man in His image, both male and female).
Okay, so maybe that's a bit off-topic, but you might find it interesting to think about.