Opinions on older translations of The Divine Comedy?
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1VoicelessTorment
I'm kind of in analysis paralysis. For what it's worth, I'm mainly interested in older (say anywhere between 1782-1960) translations - and anything with a rich vocabulary (I love words) and poetic flavour, even if it's very free-form.
When directly comparing Paradiso Canto translations from Sydney Fowler Wright, Henry Francis Cary, Ichabod Charles Wright, Henry Boyd, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, I'm strongly divided - and I know there are plenty more. Any recommendations or opinions on these?
I find some of Longfellow's passages very noble and powerful, but his line-for-line translation can become quite arduous and confusing for me after a while.
I know Henry Boyd's translation is highly inaccurate and more of a curiosity, but I'm still attracted to his poetic interpretation (if nothing else) of the journey and occasionally beautiful passages.
I find Fowler Wright's Paradiso 'descriptive' and 'colourful' - but I read a comment from someone who hated it, so I am curious to see what the community thinks.
I like the elegant vocabulary of Charles Wright's Paradiso, but I know (like some of the older translations) it takes liberties with the source material.
I've given links to the different translations, even though I know many more exist:
Longfellow's Paradiso: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1003/1003-h/1003-h.htm
Cary's Paradiso: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1007/pg1007.html
Charles Wright's Paradiso: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101067195873&view=1up&seq=2...
Fowler Wright's Paradiso: http://www.sfw.org.uk/paradiso.shtml
Henry Boyd's Paradiso: https://archive.org/details/divinacommediaof03dantuoft/page/186
I've been struggling to find an old translation I like for weeks - I even browsed through Cunningham's critical bibliography of Dante translations:
https://era.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1842/27849/CunninghamGF_1954_v3redux.pdf?s...
I'd appreciate any recommendations or opinions on the translations I've already listed.
Thanks.
When directly comparing Paradiso Canto translations from Sydney Fowler Wright, Henry Francis Cary, Ichabod Charles Wright, Henry Boyd, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, I'm strongly divided - and I know there are plenty more. Any recommendations or opinions on these?
I find some of Longfellow's passages very noble and powerful, but his line-for-line translation can become quite arduous and confusing for me after a while.
I know Henry Boyd's translation is highly inaccurate and more of a curiosity, but I'm still attracted to his poetic interpretation (if nothing else) of the journey and occasionally beautiful passages.
I find Fowler Wright's Paradiso 'descriptive' and 'colourful' - but I read a comment from someone who hated it, so I am curious to see what the community thinks.
I like the elegant vocabulary of Charles Wright's Paradiso, but I know (like some of the older translations) it takes liberties with the source material.
I've given links to the different translations, even though I know many more exist:
Longfellow's Paradiso: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1003/1003-h/1003-h.htm
Cary's Paradiso: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1007/pg1007.html
Charles Wright's Paradiso: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101067195873&view=1up&seq=2...
Fowler Wright's Paradiso: http://www.sfw.org.uk/paradiso.shtml
Henry Boyd's Paradiso: https://archive.org/details/divinacommediaof03dantuoft/page/186
I've been struggling to find an old translation I like for weeks - I even browsed through Cunningham's critical bibliography of Dante translations:
https://era.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1842/27849/CunninghamGF_1954_v3redux.pdf?s...
I'd appreciate any recommendations or opinions on the translations I've already listed.
Thanks.
2susanbooks
I know you're looking for older translations, but John Ciardi's 20th-century translation is excellent & widely available in cheap copies.
4VoicelessTorment
>3 lilithcat: Sorry, I suppose I should have been more specific. I'd say any English translations between 1782-1960. I'll edit my post.
5lilithcat
>4 VoicelessTorment:
Right at the end of that period is the Dorothy L. Sayers translation. I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for it because it's the one I read in my high school English class and was my introduction to Dante.
Right at the end of that period is the Dorothy L. Sayers translation. I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for it because it's the one I read in my high school English class and was my introduction to Dante.
6VoicelessTorment
Thanks. I'll take a look.