Traveling across the borders of languages, are there any constraints at all?
I think I considered this a little personal challenge but I realised I was just not fit for it: translating a poem from Italian into English. I suppose a good translation is possible if translators are able bring pieces of information from another world into their own world. In this case, I have gone against the pure nature of language, I made a timid attempt, and ended up crossing something that I may call a border.
I must confess I don’t particularly enjoy translating poems, maybe because the verse and the stanza are such intimate places that I feel I am walking across a space I am not allowed to. Also, I am not sure to what extent meanings, signs and sounds can be carried intact from one language to another.
However, there are territories that need to be explored, however challenging this adventure may be.
The days’ swing
In the day’s trample
that we innocently call life
and some beseech it to stop
my emotion is swaying hard.
Frantic work is a soothe
it arms my future with experience
The end-of-day rush
will be a contented descending
Or an awakening nightmare
along with the heart’s swing.
The original poem.
Lucia Sallutio on WordPress.
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