Poetic translation (was: ULT)

Raymond A. Brown scripsit:

> ["Stabat Mater"] has often been set to music by later composers: Palestrina, Schubert,
> Rossini, Verdi, Dvorak, Stanford inter alios.
Hmm.  There is a melody (not a full setting) in my head associated
with those words; I wonder whose it is?

        sta bat ma ter do lo ro sa
        C   D   E  D   E  G  F  E
        iux ta cru cem la cri mo sa
        E   D  C   B   A  A   A  G
        dum pen de bat fi li us
        D   C   D  E   D  C  C

> No English version
> I've met comes close to retaining the simplicity of the Latin.
There is a similar problem with the German Christmas carol
"O Tannenbaum".  All English translations are massively
over-literal and sound terrible; I have the choice of singing in
German or using some totally unrelated words "We stand beside/
The Christmas tree [...]".

On a higher level, Goethe's "Ueber allen Gipfeln ist ruh"
has the same trouble: it is very delicate, and all translations
ruin the delicacy.

In the reverse direction, Poe's "Raven" and Coleridge's "Kubla Khan"
both resist translation with all their strength.

--
John Cowan                                      cowan@ccil.org
                e'osai ko sarji la lojban.