Oct 5 Reading

Melissa LaRochelle

To be honest, I actually don't enjoy poetry very much. I'm bad at interpreting it and feel silly when I try. So I guess I have strong opinions about it. 

 R. Pulvers, “On Translating Poetry”     

Honestly, for all the reasons Pulvers came up with for the possibility of translating poetry- a translator understanding the soul of the poem to translate it;

I believe it cannot be done. For one thing, poetry is not a matter of right or wrong interpretations; thus it isn't possible to translate the "correct" meaning.

Poetry is like a bomb of inspiration that sets off a chain of ideas and interpretations with every new reader. It is impossible to capture this.

Especially in Japanese-to-English translation. Every piece of Japanese poetry is intensely thought out, down to the kanji used. These things cannot be translated in a

way that does the original justice. The best way to understand foreign poetry is to study the language, not translate it into something else. Rather than translation, the best way

to spread Japanese poetry to English speakers is to create new English Haiku or other Japanese-style poems.

J. Beichman, “Through a Glass Darkly”

They argue that without translated poetry, Japanese poetry would not exist. I don't believe that. Traditional Japanese poetry was highly influenced by Chinese poetry.

These Japanese poets were often reading these poems-- in Chinese. Even writing some of their own in Chinese first before going on to Japanese. Like I said, it is possible to

enjoy another language and culture's poems and get inspired to create your own. Most great Japanese poets weren't sitting around waiting for translations to be released.

It's hard to preserve the sound and musicality of poetry when translating from Japanese to English. Nearly impossible, in my opinion. The syllables, consonants, endings of

words. This also effects the intake of the poem.

So, I suppose I don't find translating poetry possible.