Dante poem + translation winner

alma Image
11/17/2009 - 13:32

On Nov 7th The Times printed the winners of a poetry translation competition. The Over 18 winner  - Paul Batchelor - had translated from Inferno, CantoV, lines 121-38.  I'm afraid my Italian is not up to deciding how near to the original it is, but I loved the translation. It can be found on www.stephen-spender.org  along with the other winners.

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Thank you, Alma. Most interesting. A very good translation that deserved a prize. I particularly liked the comments from the translator as they explain many of the difficulties encountered in the process and how he solved them. Translating poems is one of the most complicated processes that you can imagine. To be able to convey the full meaning you need to be not only an excellent translator, but also a poet.