Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Great Regulars: Rarely does a translation so stunningly refresh

the language it enters as this week's poem, "Donal Og" ("Young Donal") by Lady Augusta Gregory. It owes its power to a variety of attributes. One is its lyric economy. The only version I could find of the original 8th century Irish ballad has 14 stanzas, whereas Gregory manages with a mere nine. Then there's the strong but non-metrical rhythm, borne on incantatory psalm-like repetitions. Most importantly of all, the Hiberno-English grammatical structures have been allowed to remain intact.

from Carol Rumens: The Guardian: Books blog: Poem of the week: Donal Og by Lady Augusta Gregory

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