has no choice but to own several, since it often happens that where one translator comes up short, the other does better. Every time I'm struck with admiration for the poetic qualities of Haviaras's translation (he even manages to reproduce the rhymes of some of the early poems), I recall a poem Sachperoglou has done exceedingly well. Such as 'Ithaca':
from London Review of Books: Some Sort of a Solution
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1 comment :
Friend,
Thank you for your delightful post. I love the way Charles Simic enlightens us with his insight. His inclusion of E. M. Forster’s description of Cavafy is a gem. Not only do we get the benefit of the image, we get to share in the amusement that Simic must have felt on felt on reading it.
". . .a Greek gentleman in a straw hat, standing absolutely motionless at a slight angle to the universe. His arms are extended, possibly . . . Yes, it is Mr Cavafy, and he is going either from his flat to the office, or from his office to the flat. If the former, he vanishes when seen, with a slight gesture of despair. If the latter, he may be prevailed upon to begin a sentence – an immense complicated yet shapely sentence, full of parentheses that never get mixed and of reservations that really do reserve, a sentence that moves with logic to its foreseen end, yet to an end that is always more vivid and thrilling than one foresaw."
How great is that! But YOUR inclusion of Sean Connery reading Ithaca was just as much a treat. Thanks again.
Carol
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