I often shy away from translations, or more precisely I am driven away by the chasm of accomplishment which frequently separates a well wrought original from the ghost of a translation. Fortunately I have not encountered such difficulties when reading David Gosselin's renditions of Schiller, and his latest effort, The Pilgrim, is no exception in this regard. It seems to capture well Schiller's straightforward but rich narrative and musical qualities. The modulation of line lengths and rhymes seems to me, even with my limited German, to hearken back to the octosyllabic and heptasyllabic elegance and clarity of the original, without neglect to the music of Sciller's lines. David Gosselin's version lives up to the expectation that a translation not suffer from failing to be a good poem in its own right.
Mike Burch was very helpful in demonstrating what can actually be achieved with a translation. Just by being exposed to these higher standards, it became clear how many translations of all kinds were really lacking something, especially the magic of the original.
I try to capture the magic.
Shelley also spoke of how translating a poem essentially means creating a new poem in the translated language.
On a philosophical level, this poem, and several others like it, I believe to be one of Schiller’s many spiritual interventions. Whether it’s imagining some Golden Age of poetry and civilization from the past (described in his “Words of Delusion”) or hoping everything that one isn’t doing in this life will be redeemed by another, simply by checking off a few boxes (Schiller’s “Resignation”), Schiller reminds us that there’s a golden age waiting inside each of us right now. In a word: there’s no use in lamenting some past golden age or looking forward to all the things we’ll do in the next life if we’re not doing our best with the life we’ve already been given. And yet, both kinds of thinking are very popular in the world of culture and criticism.
As the story of Cain and Abel reminds us, God wants our best. It’s all that’s expect from us. The rest is a matter of grace.
Schiller’s poems often have a similar spirit. He was very much at war with complacency in all spheres, moral, spiritual, artistic and otherwise.
Our poor Pilgrim here was eager to get to Paradise, breaking his head over it, yet he didn’t really take the time to reflect on what it was he was really after, or why. The result is essentially a wasted life, even if tragic and unintentional.
All the more why it seems important to have poems like this, so that we may learn and be reminded of these lessons from a poem, rather than living it all out ourselves and ending up in the same place as our poor but well-intentioned Pilgrim.
I will look forward to your book of translations. Yes, I don't think we'll run out of material anytime soon. I just did a number of Callimachus translations last night.
Therre is never here alright. The lovely sky versus realty. A huge contrast. Beauty versus fact. Quite a wide divide. The great seducer is quite a wily one.
I often shy away from translations, or more precisely I am driven away by the chasm of accomplishment which frequently separates a well wrought original from the ghost of a translation. Fortunately I have not encountered such difficulties when reading David Gosselin's renditions of Schiller, and his latest effort, The Pilgrim, is no exception in this regard. It seems to capture well Schiller's straightforward but rich narrative and musical qualities. The modulation of line lengths and rhymes seems to me, even with my limited German, to hearken back to the octosyllabic and heptasyllabic elegance and clarity of the original, without neglect to the music of Sciller's lines. David Gosselin's version lives up to the expectation that a translation not suffer from failing to be a good poem in its own right.
Thanks Bob.
Mike Burch was very helpful in demonstrating what can actually be achieved with a translation. Just by being exposed to these higher standards, it became clear how many translations of all kinds were really lacking something, especially the magic of the original.
I try to capture the magic.
Shelley also spoke of how translating a poem essentially means creating a new poem in the translated language.
On a philosophical level, this poem, and several others like it, I believe to be one of Schiller’s many spiritual interventions. Whether it’s imagining some Golden Age of poetry and civilization from the past (described in his “Words of Delusion”) or hoping everything that one isn’t doing in this life will be redeemed by another, simply by checking off a few boxes (Schiller’s “Resignation”), Schiller reminds us that there’s a golden age waiting inside each of us right now. In a word: there’s no use in lamenting some past golden age or looking forward to all the things we’ll do in the next life if we’re not doing our best with the life we’ve already been given. And yet, both kinds of thinking are very popular in the world of culture and criticism.
As the story of Cain and Abel reminds us, God wants our best. It’s all that’s expect from us. The rest is a matter of grace.
Schiller’s poems often have a similar spirit. He was very much at war with complacency in all spheres, moral, spiritual, artistic and otherwise.
Our poor Pilgrim here was eager to get to Paradise, breaking his head over it, yet he didn’t really take the time to reflect on what it was he was really after, or why. The result is essentially a wasted life, even if tragic and unintentional.
All the more why it seems important to have poems like this, so that we may learn and be reminded of these lessons from a poem, rather than living it all out ourselves and ending up in the same place as our poor but well-intentioned Pilgrim.
My two cents.
It helps for a translator to have an affinity for the poet he translates, and I think David Gosselin has a real affinity for Schiller. And vice versa.
Thanks Mike!
I hope to have a volume of Schiller translations ready by the end of the year, or beginning early 2025.
There are still many great ones to translate, which is always good news for guys like us haha.
I will look forward to your book of translations. Yes, I don't think we'll run out of material anytime soon. I just did a number of Callimachus translations last night.
Therre is never here alright. The lovely sky versus realty. A huge contrast. Beauty versus fact. Quite a wide divide. The great seducer is quite a wily one.