Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Great Regulars: My next example is taken from an epic poem

by the author of "Zorba the Greek," Nikos Kazantzakis, who wrote a modern sequel to Homer's "Odyssey." In this case, English has no exact equivalents for the ideas expressed, so a precise rendering is not possible. In describing Helen of Troy, Kazantzakis uses multiple words that must be simplified in English, as in "she whose laugh is like an almond tree," or "she on whom roses fall," or "shoulders on which desire glides." The translator of this great work, Kimon Friar, has written in his introduction of his envy of a language that has words like these.

from Anthony Maulucci: Norwich Bulletin: On Poetry: Translations of foreign poetry enrich our culture

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