yamadakazuma

Rendering a mediocre alliterative poem written more than a thousand years ago in Modern English is a task I would not even wish on that guy who was mean to me in Middle School (if you're out there, Brad, I just wanted to let you know that you're ugly). But Seamus Heaney managed somehow, creating a text that balances the gutteral strength of the original with fantastic verse and shows us the full power of the English language. The care and anguish that went into this poem is clear from the very first word, with Heaney's masterful choice of "So." for the meaning of the elusive "Hwaet"--a connection which has escaped scholars for approximately twelve hundred years. As Borges once said, "The original is unfaithful to the translation." Five stars.

2023-01-04 00:59