| Horace Ode 4.7, translated by Sarah Tyrrell | ||
| Alterations and Explanations 1: Latin reads, “grass returns to the fields.” I changed it to “grass renews” because it had the appropriate number of syllables and the meaning still conforms to Horace’s idea because the stanza is about the rebirth and regrowth of spring after winter. 2: “Redeunt” should also be taken with “arboribusque comae.” However, English carries over verbs less often than Latin and in terms of scansion more syllables are needed in the line. My choice of “adorn” is because it scans and sounds poetic. 3: The Latin literally says “the earth changes its changes,” which is unacceptably repetitive, so I chose to be more precise in describing how the earth changes, by means of seasons. I also take “decrescentia” transitively rather than intransitively with rivers because the diminishing of the river is a result of the season’s changing. 5: I felt it reasonable to leave out “geminis” in refernce to the two Graces because it is common knowledge that there are three in all, so the adjective is unnecessary to meaning. 6: The fact that “nuda” refers specifically to the first Grace who is the subject of the sentence is inadequately conveyed. However, in the original, the distance between “Gratia” and “nuda” is so distant, that the relationship between the two words is not necessarily taken to be a close one there, and my translation takes better into account the word order as Horace writes it. 7-8: These were difficult lines to translate into the meter I chose to follow. There were too many syllables to include every word, and I admit something of the meaning is lost. My literal translation is thus: “Do not hope for immortality,” reminds the year and the hour which snatches the nourishing day. Unfortunately, it was not feasible to include every aspect of the verses without losing the meter. I tried to make the general meaning clear, but the lines lack some of the power of the original. 9-12: The most important aspect of this stanza to preserve was the flow of one season into the next all-in-one unit. Thus, the cyclical nature becomes apparent and the next stanza has more impact. 13: This line is a continuation of the sentiment expressed in the last stanza, but in reference to the skies rather than the seasons. I felt it more important to connect it to the preceding idea than to preserve every element of the line. 14: This line is clearly in opposition to those preceding, so I added the conjunction, “yet.” I also added “to hell” which is not actually said in the original. However, it was the best way I could find to preserve the negative connotations of Horace’s perception of death. 15: I left out Ancus in part because of meter but mostly because the name appears to be more filler than anything in the original. He was just one of Rome’s early kings, and Horace gives no indication why he included him as he does with the descriptors of Aeneas and Tullus. 19-20: The original lines, “amico quae dederis animo,” literally mean “which you will have given to a friendly soul.” I have taken this to refer to the addressee of the poem and emphasized it with respect to the “cuncta manus avidas fugient heredis” by changing it to “what you yourself have spent.” 21: I chose to omit “splendida” in my translation because it seems unnecessary to the meaning of the poem and added what the “arbitria” specifically concerns for clarification. 22: I omitted the addressee’s name, Torquatus, because the name means nothing to the common reader and is more likely to be a jarring reminder of the ode’s original source, possibly disrupting the flow of the poem. |
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| Additional Information About This Poem | ||
| Poem in Translation | ||
| Poem in Original Latin | ||
| S. Tyrrell's Introduction and Philosophy of Translation | ||
© 2003
Sarah Tyrrell |
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