For Pound, the knowledge of history is crucial in translation. In his essay, “How to Read” (1928), Pound states that “every new heave is stimulated by translation; every allegedly great age is a great age of translations” (Selected Writings 34-5). More impressive, though, is Pound’s ability to make the poetry of the past seems alive in the present, almost contemporary in nature (Apter 47). Pound’s legacy of resurrecting dead poems in a modern vernacular is a renewal as well as a revival, wherein he revives dead poems by means of his translation. Pound’s endeavors, though, are more complex than those which attempt mere contemporizing older works; in point of fact, he employs a mixture of archaic and modern styles. He relies heavily on historical …show more content…
According to him, it is not necessary to be a poet in order to translate poetry; a good translator can do this task even better than a poet himself. He provides several examples of good translators who are not poets. For instance, Johann Heinrich Voss (1751 – 1826), who translates Homer’s poetry, is a poor poet but an excellent translator. In addition, there are great poets who are also great translators of poetry, such as Johann Christian Friedrich Holderlin (1770–1843) and Stefan Anton George (1868 –1933), both of whom translate Charles Baudelaire’s work with a high degree of skill: “It is not because they are great poets that they are great translators, they are great poets and they are great translators” (de Man 81). The essential difference between the poet and the translator is that the former is chiefly concerned with the meaning that s/he has to express, in order to convey a meaning which does not necessarily relate to language, whereas the latter deals directly with the language. That is to say, the poet is attached to the meaning that s/he wants to express, whilst the translator is more interested in the original and its translation. To be more specific, the intention of the poet can be spontaneous and unprompted, whereas that of the translator is purposed and determined, and that is a significant difference. For Pound, by contrast, the translator’s craft is similar to that of the
Poetry’s role is evaluated according to what extent it mirrors, shapes and is reshaped by historical events. In the mid-19th century, some critics viewed poetry as “an expression of the poet’s personality, a manifestation of the poet’s intuition and of the social and historical context which shaped him” ( Preminger, Warnke, Hardison 511). Analysis of the historical, social, political and cultural events at a certain time helps the reader fully grasp a given work. The historical approach is necessary in order for given allusions to be situated in their social, political and cultural background. In order to escape intentional fallacy, a poet should relate his work to universal
Everett, Nicholas From The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-century Poetry in English. Ed. Ian Hamiltong. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. Copyright 1994 by Oxford University Press.
The subsequent section is concise as it provides the depressive historical context of the poem. The usage of factual period of time 1949 and the war / Now four years dead- conveys the suffering of the exiles and their endurance of the lengthy wait to migrate as they weren’t economically or physically capable to leave earlier.
In How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas C. Foster states that there’s “... a certain set of patterns, codes, and rules that we can learn to use when we’re reading a piece of writing” (Foster 3). These patterns can be used to identify the true meaning of literature in a variety of ways. In Edgar Allen Poe’s short story, “The Cask of Amontillado,” several ideas can be represented with Foster’s claims. In “The Cask of Amontillado,” connections can be made to Foster’s second chapter, “Nice to Eat With You: Acts of Communion,” and his eighteenth chapter, “Is he Serious? And Other Ironies.”
London: n.p., 1998. Print. fourth Bloomfield, Morton W. New Literary History. Winter ed. N.p.:
...t P. and Stanley B. Greenfield, Old English Poetry: Fifteen Essays, Providence, RI: Brown University Press, 1967
New historicism is premised upon an ideological attempt to wed the practice of history and literary criticism. In this type of textual analysis, the literary work is juxtaposed with historical events (characteristic of the time period in which the work was produced) in an effort to understand the implications within the text. This line of inquiry serves to recover a "historical consciousness" which may be utilized in the rendering of literary theory. "Poems and novels came to be seen in isolation, as urnlike objects of precious beauty. The new historicists, whatever their differences and however defined, want us to see that even the most unlike poems are caught in a web of historical conditions, relationships, and influences."[1] Such an introspective framework ultimately contributes to a wide variety of conceptualizations in literary analysis; such as Marxism, Feminist criticism, and post-structuralism. This attempt to contextualize literary works in a historical manner is also supplemental to more conventional types of literary analysis such as deconstructionism. New historicism, however, tends to be representative of a postmodern project which inevitably leads scholars to question the application of historical concepts as an ideological tool in literary analysis. The attempt to establish a connection between a literary text and historical event is often reflective of the paradigms characteristic to the practice of writing history. These paradigms foster a notion of exclusivity which may actually hinder a literary analysis. Such an introspective framework ultimately contributes to a wide variety of conceptualizations in literary analysis; such as Marxism, Feminist criticism, and post-structuralism....
3. Ellmann, Richard. Modern Poems: A Norton Introduction. p. 797-803. W.W. Norton and Company, 1973.
The world is changing and evolving at an astounding rate. Within the last one hundred years, the Western community has seen advances in technology and medicine that has improved the lifestyles and longevity of almost every individual. Within the last two hundred years, we have seen two World Wars, and countless disputes over false borders created by colonialists, slavery, and every horrid form of human suffering imaginable! Human lifestyles and cultures are changing every minute. While our grandparents and ancestors were growing-up, do you think that they ever imagined the world we live in today? What is to come is almost inconceivable to us now. In this world, the only thing we can be sure of is that everything will change. With all of these transformations happening, it is a wonder that a great poet may write words over one hundred years ago, that are still relevant in today’s modern world. It is also remarkable that their written words can tell us more about our present, than they did about our past. Is it just an illusion that our world is evolving, or do these great poets have the power to see into the future? In this brief essay, I will investigate the immortal characteristics of poetry written between 1794 and 1919. And, I will show that these classical poems can actually hold more relevance today, than they did in the year they were written. Along the way, we will pay close attention to the style of the poetry, and the strength of words and symbols used to intensify the poets’ revelations.
22 of Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900. Rpt. in Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag.
Godfrey, E. (2005). Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, Vol. 45, No. 4 -. 4, The Nineteenth Century (Autumn, 2005), pp. 113-117. 853-871.
Rundle, Thomas J. Collins & Vivenne J. The Broadview Anthology of Victorian Poetry ad Poetic Theory. Concise. Toronto: Broadview Press Limited, 2005.
"The point of view which I am struggling to attack is perhaps related to the metaphysical theory of the substantial unity of the soul: for my meaning is, that the poet has, not a personality' to express, but a particular medium, which is only a medium and not a personality, in which impressions and experiences combine in peculiar and unexpected ways."
...script version of "Gerontion," the old man is abandoned by nature, leaving him in his barren state. There is no hope for these characters to find meaning through nature because it is a force that is completely out of their control. However, by substituting "History" for "Nature" in "Gerontion," Eliot gives an element of hope to an otherwise dismal poem. By recognizing the old man's failure to perceive history in the "living" sense, the reader also recognizes that the perception of history lies in the individual. Unlike nature, man has a controlling influence in history. As long as this is understood, anyone, including the old man, can find belonging in the living sense of history in order to establish meaning in their present world.
(This translation is taken from book in English by Darshan Singh Maini called STUDIES IN PUNJABI POETRY)