Assignment 6

I. Compare the four Romanian versions of the following famous Sonnet by William Shakespeare. First, you are to analyse the SL poem starting from its integration into a specific literary period and trend, continuing with its integration into Shakespeare’s literary work and ending with a detailed analysis of its denotative and connotative content and of its form (For the paraphrase of the Sonnet and hints for its analysis, see Mabillard, Amanda. An Analysis of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18. Shakespeare Online. 2000. on http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/18detail.html.) Then you have to compare the rendition of all these elements in the TL versions.

SONNET 18

by William Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm’d;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

SONETUL 18

Version 1 by Gh. Tomozei

Cu-o zi a verii poate să te semui?
Tu eşti mai plin de farmec şi mai blând!
Un vânt doboară creanga şi blestemu-i
că frunza verii moare prea curând.
Ades e ochiul cerului fierbinte
şi aur îl precede-întunecat
precum frumosul din frumos descinde
sub cerul simplei firi, netulburat.
Dar vara ta eternă nu păleşte
şi n-ai să pierzi ce astăzi stăpâneşti
în umbra morţii n-ai să plimbi caleşte
când într-un vers etern ţi-e dat să creşti.
Cât oamenii privesc şi cât respiră
Trăieşti şi tu în cântu-nchis în liră.

SONETUL 18

Version 2 by Grete Tartler
 

Să te asemăn cu o zi de vară?
Frumuseţe şi balanţă ai mai mult.
 În mai, ades furtuni muguri doboară,
Iar verile-s prea scurte, şi-n tumult.
 De multe ori cerescul ochi prea arde,
 Sau ceţuri auriul chip l-au şters,
Şi ce-i frumos din frumuseţe scade
Întâmplător, sau de-al naturii mers.
 Dar veşnica ta vară nu se duce,
Minunea chipului tu n-o să-ţi schimbi,
Nu te umbreşte moartea-ntre năluce
Când în eterne versuri creşti în timp.

Cât mai respiră-n lume om, cât ochiu-nvaţă,
Trăi-va şi acest poem şi-ţi va da viaţă.

 SONETUL 18

Version 3 by Radu Cârneci

Cu zvelta primăvara să te asemăn, oare?
Ţi-e firea mai gingaşă, iar chipul mai duios;
În Mai, chiar, pier bobocii năzuitori spre floare
Şi scurt e anotimpul şi e capricios:
Ori prea fierbinte-i ochiul din cer privind încoace,
Sau îţi ascunde raza sub nori întunecoşi,
Natura, nu o dată, încearcă să se joace
Chiar opera strivindu-şi sub paşii furioşi.
Ci primăvara crească-ţi, precum o mama bună,
Comorile ce-n tine cu greu le-a adunat,
Să nu-ndrăznească Moartea surâsul, să-ţi apună,
Căci eu prin timp, cu imnul, mereu, te-am înălţat.
Da, câtă vreme oameni vor exista pe lume,
Va dăinui şi versu-mi purtându-te-n renume.

SONETUL 18

Version 4 by Radu Ştefănescu

C-o zi de vară te-aş asemui
Dar gloria i-e scurtă: prea uşor
Un vânt de mai cutează-a-i pălmui
 Lalelele; tu-l treci, fermecător…
 Vezi, soarele ba arde, ba-i ascuns,
Şi auru-i păleşte; ce-i frumos
Îşi pierde haru-n chip de nepătruns,
Sau în al Firii mers capricios,
Dar tu eşti altfel, farmecul tău sfânt
Desparte vremi; desăvârşirii fiu,
Tu ruşinezi şi Moartea, pe pământ
Atotstăpânitoare… Şi mai viu
Ca viaţa eşti, căci stihul meu ţi-e dat,
Cât ochii văd, şi inimile bat…

II. Compare the English versions signed by Cristina Tătaru of the following three poems by Ştefan Augustin Doinaş. First, you are to analyse the SL poem starting from its integration into a specific literary period and trend, continuing with its integration into the poet’s literary work and ending with a detailed analysis of its denotative and connotative content and of its form. Then you have to compare the rendition of all these elements in their TL versions.

1. AMIAZĂ RUSTICĂ

Privelişti grele. Musca sfredeleşte
văzduhul miruindu-se pe aripi.
Salcâmii-şi suie florile cu scripeţi
până-n tărâmul mierii. Şi se lasă
o binecuvântare peste zborul
lăstunilor, şi - tot mai plini, mai tandri,
în cercuri de jăratic – se aşează
pe-acoperiş. Şi-atât de apăsată,
străbătătoare prin fluide ţigle,
e umbra lor pe grajd, că armăsarul
ce-şi întrerupe-n iesle ronţăitul
se simte-ncălecat de Sfântul Duh… 

RUSTIC NOON

Heavy landscapes. The fly is boring through
the sky, its wings anointing with sweet balm.
Acacias raise their pulleyed flowers high
up to the land of honey And a bliss
ever so soft descends over the flight
of martins, and – more full, more tender, circling
in wheels of embers – they come down to sit
upon the roof. And so heavily pressed,
so penetrating through the fluid tiles
their shades are, on the stable that they make
the steed who stops from chewing, in the manger,
feel that he’s mounted by the Holy Spirit…

 

2. CLIPA DESPĂRŢIRII

 Distanţa dintre noi se face fulger.
Şi păsări zboară prin cenuşa caldă,
cu ţipete livide. Şi străinul
ce trece iute, ca alergătorul,
nu simte, vai! că pieptul lui a rupt
o panglică subţire, ce lucea,
cu disperare, între ochii noştri… 

PARTING MOMENT

 The distance between us turns into flash.
And birds are flying through the ashes warm,
with livid wailings. And the stranger who’s
running as fast as a long-distance racer,
woe! does not feel his breast has torn apart
an airy ribbon thin, that shone across
between your eyes and mine, so desperately…

 3. TRIPLĂ RĂSFRÂNGERE

În râu, deodată, am văzut cum piere
mesteacănul răsfrânt, răpit de-un val.

Oare nu este tot aşa, părere,
pentru străinul care stă pe mal
fiinţa noastră, lumile – răsfrânte
într-un alt râu, la rândul lui răsfrânt ?

Mesteacănul n-a încetat să cânte,
aşa cum eu nu încetez să cânt…

TREBLE REFLECTION

I sudden saw the birch tree wash away
there, in the stream; a wave its image tore

I wonder, isn’t it the selfsame way
illusion to the stranger on the shore
the worlds, our being, mirroring into
a stream that’s mirrored by another stream?

The birch tree hasn’t stopped his song; I, too, 
will not stop singing ever, just like him.

Assignment 4

Analyse the Romanian versions of the following two poems by Sylvia Plath. 

First, you are to analyse the SL poem starting from its integration into a specific 

literary period and trend, continuing with their integration into Plath’s literary work and biography 

(for biographical details see http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/sylviaplath/1408/comments) 

and ending with a detailed analysis of their denotative and connotative content and of their form 

(for the analysis of Lady Lazarus consult the critical background 

on http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/m_r/plath/lazarus.htm; 

for a possible interpretation of Letter in November  

see http://bloodjet.wordpress.com/2009/04/05/letter-in-november/ ). 

Then you have to compare the rendition of all these elements in the TL version.

LADY LAZARUS (1962) by Sylvia Plath

LADY LAZARUS Romanian version by Elena Ciobanu

I have done it again. One year in every ten I manage it - A sort of walking miracle, my skin Bright as a Nazi lampshade, My right foot A paperweight, My face a featureless, fine Jew linen. Peel off the napkin O my enemy. Do I terrify?- The nose, the eye pits, the full set of teeth? The sour breath Will vanish in a day. Soon, soon the flesh The grave cave ate will be At home on me And I a smiling woman. I am only thirty. And like the cat I have nine times to die. This is Number Three. What a trash To annihilate each decade. What a million filaments. The peanut-crunching crowd Shoves in to see Them unwrap me hand and foot - The big strip tease. Gentlemen, ladies These are my hands My knees. I may be skin and bone, Nevertheless, I am the same, identical woman. The first time it happened I was ten. It was an accident. The second time I meant To last it out and not come back at all. I rocked shut As a seashell. They had to call and call And pick the worms off me like sticky pearls. Dying Is an art, like everything else. I do it exceptionally well. I do it so it feels like hell. I do it so it feels real. I guess you could say I’ve a call. It’s easy enough to do it in a cell. It’s easy enough to do it and stay put. It’s the theatrical Comeback in broad day To the same place, the same face, the same brute Amused shout: ‘A miracle!’ That knocks me out. There is a charge For the eyeing of my scars, there is a charge For the hearing of my heart - It really goes. And there is a charge, a very large charge For a word or a touch Or a bit of blood Or a piece of my hair or my clothes. So, so, Herr Doktor. So, Herr Enemy. I am your opus, I am your valuable, The pure gold baby That melts to a shriek. I turn and burn. Do not think I underestimate your great concern. Ash, ash - You poke and stir. Flesh, bone, there is nothing there - A cake of soap, A wedding ring, A gold filling. Herr God, Herr Lucifer Beware Beware. Out of the ash I rise with my red hair And I eat men like air.

Am făcut-o iar. La zece ani odată Reuşesc – Un fel de minune ambulantă, pielea mea Aprinsă ca un abajur nazist, Piciorul meu drept, Prespapier, Faţa mea fără cute, Pânză fină, ebraică. Dă giulgiul la o parte, O, duşman a meu. Înspăimânt ? – Nasul, orbitele, şirul întreg de dinţi? Duhoarea acră Va dispărea ca mâine. Curând, curând, carnea Mâncată de hăul mormântului va fi La loc pe mine, Iar eu, femeie zâmbitoare. Treizeci de ani, atât, Şi, ca pisica, pot de nouă ori să mor. Asta e a Treia Oară. Cât gunoi Să distrugi fiecare decadă. Ce milion de ligamente. Gloata scuipătorilor de seminţe Se-nghesuie înăuntru să-i vadă Cum mă despoaie din creştet până-n tălpi – Strip tease de senzaţie. Doamnelor şi domnilor, Iată mâinile mele, Genunchii. Piele şi os, se poate, Dar una şi aceeaşi femeie. Prima dată, la zece ani s-a-ntâmplat. A fost un accident. A doua oară mi-am pus în gând Să merg până la capăt, să nu mă mai întorc. Am împietrit închisă Ca o scoică. Le-a trebuit să cheme, să cheme Şi să-mi scoată viermii încleiaţi ca perlele. A muri E o artă, ca orice alt lucru. O fac grozav de bine. O fac să doară ca dracu. O fac să pară reală. Am chemare, s-ar zice. E destul de uşor s-o fac într-o carceră. E destul de uşor s-o fac şi să-nţepenesc. E teatrala Întoarcere, ziua-n amiaza mare, În acelaşi loc, la aceeaşi figură, aceeaşi brută Voce urlând desfătată : „Minune!” – Asta mă dă gata. Există o taxă Ca să-ţi plimbi ochii pe cicatricile mele, o taxă Ca să-mi asculţi inima – Chiar merge. Şi mai e o taxă, una foarte mare, Pentru orice cuvânt sau atingere Sau pic de sânge Sau fir de păr sau haină de-ale mele. Şi-uite aşa, Herr Doktor. Aşa, Herr Inamic. Sunt opera ta, Sunt comoara, Bebeluşul din aur pur Ce se topeşte într-un ţipăt. Ard şi mă tăvălesc. Să nu crezi că-ţi subestimez marele interes. Cenuşă, cenuşă – Stârneşti, scormoneşti, Carne, oase, nimic, nimic – O coajă de săpun, O verighetă, O plombă de aur. Herr Dumnezeu, Herr Lucifer, Păzea, Păzea. Cu părul roşu Renasc din cenuşă Şi mănânc oameni cum respir aer.

LETTER IN NOVEMBER (1962) by Sylvia Plath

SCRISOARE ÎN NOIEMBRIE Romanian version by Elena Ciobanu

Love, the world Suddenly turns, turns color. The streetlight Splits through the rat’s tail Pods of the laburnum at nine in the morning. It is the Arctic, This little black Circle, with its tawn silk grasses – babies’ hair. There is a green in the air, Soft, delectable. It cushions me lovingly. I am flushed and warm. I think I may be enormous, I am so stupidly happy, My wellingtons Squelching and squelching through the beautiful red. This is my property. Two times a day I pace it, sniffing The barbarous holly with its viridian Scallops, pure iron, And the wall of the odd corpses. I love them. I love them like history. The apples are golden, Imagine it - My seventy trees Holding their gold-ruddy balls In a thick gray death-soup, Their million Gold leaves metal and breathless. O love, O celibate. Nobody but me Walks the waist high wet. The irreplaceable Golds bleed and deepen, the mouths of Thermopylae.

Dragoste, lumea Prinde, prinde dintr-odată culoare. Luminile străzii Se taie în cozile Şobolanilor, păstăile de salcâm la nouă, în zori. E Arctica,   Cerculeţul acesta Negru cu ierburi de mătase brună – păr de prunci. În aer e un verde Moale, delectabil. M-alintă, pernă iubitoare.   Sunt roşie şi caldă. Cred că sunt enormă, Sunt aşa de prosteşte de fericită, Cizmele mele de cauciuc Pleoscăie, pleoscăie prin roşul frumos.     Acesta îmi este domeniul. De două ori pe zi Îl colind, adulemcând Ilicea barbară cu scoicile ei Verzi-albastre, de fier pur,   Şi zidul vechilor leşuri. Le iubesc. Le iubesc ca istoria. Merele sunt aurii, Imaginează-ţi –   Cei şaptezeci de pomi ai mei Ţinându-ţi globurie roş-aurii Într-o supă cenuşie de moarte, Milioanele lor De frunze de aur, metalice, fără suflu.   O, dragoste, o, celibat. Nimeni în afară de mine Nu merge prin umezeala până la brâu. Odoarele de aur, neînlocuibile, Sângerează şi se afundă, gurile de la Termopile.

Assignment 3

 

Analyse the English version of the following poem by Nichita Stănescu. First, you are to analyse the SL poem starting from its integration into a specific literary period and trend, continuing with its integration into Stănescu’s literary work and ending with a detailed analysis of its denotative and connotative content and of its form. Then you have to compare the rendition of all these elements in the TL version.

EVOCARE

de Nichita Stănescu (1979)

Ea era frumoasă ca umbra unei idei, -

a piele de copil mirosea spinarea ei,

a piatră proaspăt spartă

a strigăt dintr-o limbă moartă.

Ea nu avea greutate, ca respirarea.

Râzândă şi plângândă cu lacrimi mari

era sărată ca sarea

slăvită la ospeţe de barbari.

Ea era frumoasă ca umbra unui gând.

Între ape numai ea era pământ.

EVOCATION

(translated by P. Clonţea and C. Miron)

So beautiful was she as an idea’s shade unscathed,

And smelled her nape of babies newly bathed;

of stone which has been newly broken,

of shouting in a language long since spoken.

No weight had she like gentle respiration

Now shedding tears, now smiling bright

And tasted salty like salt in sublimation

Which on his table was the barbarians’ king’s delight.

 So beautiful was she as an idea’s sound.

           Between the seas she was the only ground.

Assignment 2

Compare the four Romanian versions of the following poem by Edgar Allan Poe. First, you are to analyse the SL poem starting from its integration into a specific literary period and trend, continuing with its integration into Poe’s literary work and ending with a detailed analysis of its denotative and connotative content and of its form. Then you have to compare the rendition of all these elements in the four TL versions.

TO HELEN

1845

By Edgar Allan Poe

Helen, thy beauty is to me

   Like those Nicean barks of yore,

That gently, o’er a perfumed sea,

   The weary, way-worn wanderer bore

   To his own native shore.

On desperate seas long wont to roam,

   Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face,

Thy Naiad airs have brought me home

   To the glory that was Greece

And the grandeur that was Rome.

Lo! in yon brilliant window-niche

               How statue-like I see thee stand!

               The agate lamp within thy hand,

Ah! Psyche, from the regions which

                Are Holy Land!

ELENEI

Version 1 (by Emil Gulian)

            Elena, frumuseţea ta e pentru mine

                        Asemenea corăbiilor niceene de-altădată,

                        Ce, lunecând pe-o mare parfumată,

            Duceau călătorul ostenit să-l aline

                        Coasta natală visată.

            Căci pribegeam pe mări dezolate ca ale Sodomei,

                        Când hiacintul părului tău şi clasica ta figură,

            Gloriei Greciei, splendorii Romei,

                        Ca unui cămin, din nou mă dădură.

            Ca într-o nişă în ale ferestrelor focuri,

                        Dreaptă statuie mi-apăruşi înainte,

                        În mână cu lampa de-agată fierbinte!

            Ah, Psyché, venită din locuri

                        Ce sunt Ţări Sfinte!

ELENEI

Version 2 (by Mihu Dragomir)

            Elena, chipul tău vrăjit

                        E-o luntre pe-al Niceei val,

            Ducând drumeţul obosit

                        Pe-o mare lină, de cristal,

                        Spre ţărmul lui natal.

Aşa, din sumbre mări de-amar -

                        Naiadă, păr de hyacint,

Cântând, m-aduci acasă iar,

                        În vechea Grecie, sclipind,

În vechea Romă re-nviind.

În nişa din fereastră-acum

                        Te văd, statuie, şi în vânt

                        Ţii lampa de agat, arzând.

Psychè ce vii pe-un tainic drum

                        din  Locul Sfânt.

ODĂ ELENEI

Version 3 (by Procopie Clonţea)

Elena, frumoasă-mi pari neasemuit

                      Ca luntrile nicene ce vreodat’,

Pe marea ‘nmerismată au croit

                      Drum lin de apă şi-au purtat

                      Spre ţărm natal, pribeagul nu-ştiu-când plecat.

Sălaş aveam eu singur pe marea tumultoasă

                      Dar chipul tău cel clasic, un păr de nestemată

Şi vraja-ţi de naiadă m-au întors acasă

                      Visând ce mare Grecia va fi fost aldată

Şi scene de grandoare din Roma glorioasă.

                        Acolo, în arcul ferestrei luminate

                           Mi-apari ca o statuie, dreaptă, nemişcată!

                           În mână ai o lampă de agată,

                        O, Psyche, din locuri neîntinate,

                           Din Ţara Binecuvântată!

ELENEI

Version 4 (by Cristina Miron)

            Elena, frumuseţea ta

               E ca un niceean vapor

            Condus pe-nmiresmata mare

               De mult-truditul călător

               Spre ţărmul său de dor.

Am pribegit printre vâltoare

                        Păru-ţi de hiacint, chipul divin

Naiadă, m-au luat de pe mare

                        În Grecia, să-mi fie iar cămin

Şi-n Roma, cu apusa ei grandoare.

Şi la fereastra luminată

                        Te văd ca o statuie stând!

                        De-agată lampă-n mâini ţinând

Ah, Psyche, cum soseşti tu, iată,

                        Din Sfânt Pământ!

PROBLEMS OF ACCENTUATION IN TRANSLATING POETRY, I

(© LEON LEVIȚCHI)

            Accentuation consists, at large, in highlighting or underlining a notion, idea, feeling, attitude, etc. using various linguistic means (phonetic, lexical, grammatical, stylistic means) as well as several extra-linguistic means (gestures, mimicry, pauses etc.).

In communication, there are two main types of information that are sent and received: anaphoric information (information that is supposed to be already known by both the sender and the receiver) and epiphoric information (new information), although in many situations the boundaries between these two categories are not very easy to set. Since language is the most important means of communication, it has specific means for transmitting the two types of information. For example, the main function of the indefinite article is epiphoric, while the definite article mostly achieves the anaphoric function.

e.g. I saw a tall man crossing the street. The man was wearing a black suit.

 – a introduces new information,

- the introduces information already known by the receiver.

A correct process of communication involves the careful and sensible use of the anaphoric element; when the sender of the message does not observe this rule, he will inevitably keep the receiver away from correctly decoding the message.

◙ Underline the anaphoric elements in the following two texts, decide which of them fails to communicate the exact meaning and explain why:

1. “Once upon a time there lived two farmers, and their names were Hudden and Dudden. They had poultry in their yards, sheep on the uplands and scores of cattle in the meadow-land alongside the river.” (Hudden and Dudden, a Celtic folk-tale)

2. “darling! because my blood can sing / and dance (and does that with each your least / your any most very amazing now /or here) let pitiless fear play host / to every isn’t that’s under the spring / - but if a look should april me, / down isn’t’s own isn’t go ghostly they? (E.E. Cummings, Darling)

But, on the other hand, the essential element in communication is not the “old” (familiar, already known) information, but the new element, the epiphoric information. So, if the anaphoric (old) information coexists in communication with the epiphoric (new) information and since the new information represents the essence of communication, then the latter type of information is permanently underlined during this process, because, according to psychology, whatever is new appears as interesting and draws our attention.

Each language has its own system of epiphoric accentuation made up of several subsystems specific to different ages, literary trends, authors and works. A translator has to possess a thorough knowledge of this system of epiphoric accentuation in the TL language because this involves a knowledge of the style specific to the TL language.

Phonetic Stress / Accent

It is the main type of epiphoric accentuation and it refers to a specific stress laid on a sound or group of sounds by a high frequency sound wave. More specifically, this involves stressing the vowel sounds (vowels, diphthongs, triphthongs) in a syllable. There are four types of phonetic accent: tonic stress, syntactic stress, rhetorical stress, rhythmical stress.

a. Tonic stress refers to a syllable in a multi-syllable word or in a group of words which is more stressed than the other syllables. Since the most stressed syllable in a word coincides with its root, this is also called etymological stress. Then, on the other hand, it is principal (main, head) stress as opposed to secondary stress and zero stress (ˏunim`portant).

b. Syntactic stress underlines the logical importance of a word / several words in a sentence. Here, intonation is also involved in underlining those words.

When Emily goes out, she puts on a coat and a hat… the important words are: Emily, goes out, puts on, coat, hat.

c. Rhetorical stress helps the speaker underline a word he wants to bring to the special attention of the listener. Usually, this word is in implicit or explicit contrast with other words.

◙ Practice rhetorical stress with every word that allows for it in the following sentence:

“N. will impersonate Iago at the National Theatre tomorrow.”

Rhetorical stress falls on (a) word(s) that is/are epiphoric, at least from the speaker’s point of view. They mostly represent answers to special questions. The words having a rhetorical stress can be graphically signaled (underlined, italicized, written between inverted commas, etc.)

d. Rhythmical stress or ictus is specific to poetry and therefore of extreme importance for translators. It represents the syntactic stress laid in metric patterns that can be scanned.

i. The foot represents the metric pattern of a line in a poem made up of one stressed syllable and one or more unstressed syllables. There are six foot types:

·         the iambus: one unstressed syllable + one stressed syllable (v-)

·         the trochee: one stressed syllable + one unstressed syllable (-v)

·         the dactyl: one stressed syllable + two unstressed syllables (-vv)

·         the amphibrach: one unstressed syllable + one stressed syllable + one unstressed syllable (v-v)

·         the anapest: two unstressed syllables + one stressed syllable (vv-)

·         the spondee: one stressed syllable (-)

ii. The line is a row of words in a poem made up of one or more feet. For a translator, it is important to render this rhythmical structure because it is the main element of stress. There are seven types of lines, found in both English and Romanian poetry:

·         monometers: one foot

·         dimeters: two feet

·         trimeters: three feet

·         tetrameters: four feet

·         pentameters: five feet

·         hexameters: six feet

·         septameters: seven feet

◙ Identify the type of line used in the following fragments of poems:

a. When you are old and gray and full of sleep,

    And nodding by the fire take down this book… (Yeats)

b. Take her up / tenderly,

     Lift her with care. (Thomas Hood)

c. Long enough your house can held you; up and clear the way. (Swinburne)

d. Best and brightest, come a way!

     Fairer far than this fair Day… (Shelley)

e. Turning,

     Burning,

     Changing,

     Ranging. (J. Addison)

f. ‘Twas sad as sad could be. (Coleridge)

g. What I can ne’er express, yet can not all conceal. (Byron)

Translators should render as faithfully as possible the type of foot and line in a poem, as long as Romanian and English share the same types of foot and lines. There are some differences as far as frequency of use is concerned: English poetry (unlike Romanian poetry) shows preference for the iambus as compared to the trochee; the spondee is rarely used in both English and Romanian poetry; the same is true about monometers.

iii. the stanza  represents a pattern of lines that forms a poem. Although it is not important in point of accentuation, this pattern should be rendered faithfully in the TL.

◙ Comment on the translation of the following Spencerian Stanza, after a close analysis of its structure:

SL

TL

The horrid crags, by toppling convent crown’d,  The cork-trees hoar that clothe the shaggy steep,  The mountain-moss by scorching skies imbrown’d,  The sunken glen, whose sunless shrubs must weep,  The tender azure of the unruffled deep,  The orange tints that gild the greenest bough,  The torrents that from cliff to valley leap,  The vine on high, the willow branch below, Mix’d in one mighty scene, with varied beauty glow.                                                    (Byron)

Genunea larg cӑscatӑ lȃng-un schit,   Torenţi ce-n muchea stȃncilor se frȃng,   Gorunul peste hӑuri prӑvӑlit,   Adȃnca vale cu arbuşti ce plȃng,   Reflexele-aurii sclipind ȋn crȃng.   Azurul mӑrii, muntele abrupt,   Poieni ce-n jurul culmilor se strȃng,   Podgorii sus şi sӑlcii dedesubt, Se-nvӑlmӑşesc ȋntr-un tablou neȋntrerupt.

  

iv. Scanning is used to identify the feet of a line. In most cases, the ideal main ictus of a poem is not wholly respected as it is counter-pointed either by the syntactical stress or by other foot types. Actually, if the main ictus of a poem were observed to perfection in a poem, that poem would be unbearably monotonous representing only a pattern for scanning, not a work of art.

The translator should be able to identify both the main ictus of the poem and the syntactic counterpoints and then make every effort to render them in the TL. An example of successful translation in point is the following:

SL	TL
A forster was he, soothly, as I guesse. There was also a Nun, a Prioress, That of her smiling was simple and coy; Her greatest oath was but by saint Eloy.                                                    (Chaucer)	Era, bag seamӑ, pӑdurean sadea. Ș-apoi, o maicӑ Starețӑ era; Sfios zȃmbea ea pururi, cu sfinție, Și nu jura decȃt pe sȋnt Elie.                                              (Dan Duțescu)