Dante in translation

I'm on Paradiso with Ciardi. He's definitely more poetic than Mandelbaum or Longfellow, but I plan on reading Hollander afterwards for a literal translation.

Ciardi. Check him out.

Laurence Binyon's translation in the old Viking Portable Dante (the new version has Mark Musa).

It's the best verse translation in English.

You can't translate and make it rhyme without throwing out half the original to make it work. It's like Nabokov died for nothing around here.

The only translation is literal. Everything else is jackasses trying to "improve" Dante or make him easier reading for pseuds. Singleton or GTFO.

>>9652716
Binyon is extremely good.
Bickersteth is really good also.

someone post the chart

>>9652716
Keked at OP. Everything in traslation sucks, all the more so in poetry.

>>9653286
This. I'll never read anything written outside of the Midwest.

I wish Dryden translated Dante. If so I would continue living but since he didn't translate Dante now I'm going to die. I'm dead to the world. Fuck it. The world sucks so much!

>>9653110
I agree with Nabokov. Is there a way to easily tell which translators would be Nabokov approved, like for other famous books as well? I think Tolkien's Beowulf would be.

>>9653110
>>9654014
>t. thinks poetry is even primarily about literal denotation of the words

read more poetry

>>9654022
I doubt you have studied translatology, so next time won't you pipe down, little miss, got that?

>>9654032
and you have? you're just parroting a Russian Dan Schnieder frustrated with Garrett's translations of better Russians.

>>9653110
There's no such thing as a literal translation and there's no point throwing the expression of the poem under the bus for the sake of it.

OP shop around a bit, most editions you can get a look at the beginning and you can compare from there. Ciardi's good in a jack of all trades kind of way.

>>9654032

>translotolgy

A bunch of hacks discussing how best to do hack work. The only reason to do that shit is to make a quick buck. Even your precious Nabokov did a shit job butchering Pushkin.

I unironically like Mark Musa's translation. It's lively and conveys the essence of the poem without sticking to outdated language and trying too hard.

Allen Mandelbaum. OP, I recommend.

>>9654000
Agreed, Dryden is one of the very few good translators in English.

I just got all 3 parts of the Durling translation. Going to read Vita Nuova next week and then start the Comedy, what am I in for?

>being too retarded to know a romance language in 2017

File: 1430691295093.png (320KB, 500x375px) Image search: [Google]

320KB, 500x375px

>Mandelbaum translations

>>9654162
What does that have to do with Luther? Speak.

>>9654000
>>9654129
How good is Dryden's translation of the Aeneid?

>>9652716
portuguese speaker here, I read it in english the first time and loved it nonetheless, but now, I am re-reading it in the considered best translation to brazilian portuguese and it is just SO much better. As the words are very similar, and often the same word is used in the translation, it preserves many of the rhymes and musicality, as you said, that just didn't happened in the english translation. My edition has the portuguese and italian texts side by side, and I am skimming through the english one aswell, because the english edition has all doré's illustrations, so I am always comparing between the 3 texts.

>>9652716
There is no way you can appreciate him thoroughly with a translation.
The only way to read it is in ancient Italian. Even any modern Italian translation sucks
.
I feel it's kinda like reading Shakespeare in modern English.
Do yourself a favour: read/listen to it in Italian vulgar, enjoy the musicality and power of the words, then read a literal translation and study the imagery, the history and whatnot.

of course it works in translation - anything worth reading does. What you pseuds are calling the 'musicality' (lol) is a tiny fraction of the worth of piece of literature.

The most meaningful book to the most people is mostly read in translation as only a few million people out of 7 billion can read Hebrew sufficiently well

I read a translation by Ciaran Carson which was quite good. Reading different translations always turns over some new questions about the work I find. That's one advantage over the classic works I've read in their native language, which one can take for granted.

>>9654985
>what is poetry
kys.

nonetheless, tell me again how to thoroughly study the Bible you won't need any Hebrew knowledge.

>>9655041
youre an imbecile

the most talented people with langauge are really fluent in 3 languages tops - realistically youre going to read in 1 or 2 langauges if youre averse to translation

>>9652716
The best German translation was done by the king of Saxony. Get rekt bitches.

I was reading it in spanish but after I heard Borges reading it in the original I just couldn't keep going
I can't imagine how bad must be translated to anglo

>>9654014
Probably just go with the more literal translation.

Just learn Italian you fucking retards. If you don't want to put in the work, then tough shit, don't read Dante. There's more than enough good literature in English if you want to stay monolingual.

>>9655089
You're a retard. The average educated European before the 20th century was expected to know their native language, French, Latin, Greek, Italian, and maybe English. You're just lazy.

The consensus here (and I agree) that it's pointless to read great poetic works in English. Does the same rule apply to general literature? I always have this fear when reading the Russians or Germans or any translated work really that I'm reading the translator's interpretation of the work rather than the author's spirit and literal prose-work being communicated as it were.

>>9656688
>afraid to read german in english
except for some really technical phil, this is an irrational fear