Thursday, January 24, 2008
Sir Thomas Wyatt
I found Wyatt's poems to be somewhat difficult. It's hard to determine which words or lines are meant in a literal sense and which are abstractions, and without the assistance of the footnotes it is very difficult to decipher the conceit. Honestly, what "average" person would have known that in the sonnet "The long love that in my thought doth harbor" love is a warrior or even that love is an abstraction (aren't those usually capitalized anyway)? Or who would have guessed that "Whoso list to hunt" is in fact about the love interest of Henry VIII? I think that it's quite a difficult task to interpret the conceits in these sonnets properly without any outside sources (thank goodness for footnotes). Honestly, I much prefer the Modern Prose Translations. No, they aren't as "fluffy" as the sonnets, but there's something about the clarity in them that I find refreshing (ok - they're just easier to understand). I can easily ignore any hidden meanings, and I don't have to worry about meter or rhyme patterns or even how they should be read. I think that Modern Prose Translations should be made available in conjunction with (or in replacement of) obscure poetry.
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2 comments:
Hmm. I agree, some of the conclusions the footnotes offer are obscure and it is difficult to see how they got to them!! Thank goodness for the editors..!
I don't know that I prefer the Modern translations though. Everytime I read them I can't help feeling as though something was lost in translation. Now we know what it means, but whats the fun in a poem that tells us word for word its own meaning?
I think you are right though, the modern translation should be available!
I agree with you both. Poetry is hard, anyway, but that's where I find the pleasure in trying to figure it out. I really do enjoy the capacity of the language in the Renaissance sonnet: how it really does mean one or two or three different and contrary things!
And no, I wouldn't have known about the "banner" and the war without some training and some footnotes. It does get better with practice, but I, like you, am humbled often by the task.
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