Tag Archives: translation

A Translation

Posted on April 3, 2021 by JMN

If I Should Come Upon Your House Lonely in the West Texas DesertBy Natalie Diaz. Selected by Reginald Dwayne Betts, NYTimes, 4-1-21. [Translator’s note: The title’s ‘West Texas Desert’ is resonant and necessary. For my Spanish interpretation, however, the fact … Continue reading →

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The ‘Open-(Ahem)’

Posted on March 31, 2021 by JMN

The polite, socially acceptable name by which it’s currently known is the medlar. But for the best part of 900 years, the fruit was called the “open-arse” – thought to be a reference to the appearance of its own large … Continue reading →

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Travesía (7)

Posted on March 30, 2021 by JMN

Versión castellana del poema “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” (1856) de Walt WhitmanEnglish text at http://www.poetryfoundation.orgSpanish Interpretation by JMN Parts 4 and 5 in their entirety follow. Cleave to awareness there are 9 parts. (4)These and all else were to me the … Continue reading →

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Neruda LXXXV

Posted on March 25, 2021 by JMN

[LXXXV]Del mar hacia las calles corre la vaga nieblaA seaward-springing hint of fog runs through the streetscomo el vapor de un buey enterrado en el frío,like steam from an ox interred in the cold,y largas lenguas de agua se acumulan … Continue reading →

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Travesía (6)

Posted on March 22, 2021 by JMN

Versión castellana del poema “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” (1856) de Walt WhitmanEnglish text at http://www.poetryfoundation.orgSpanish Interpretation by JMN [Translator’s note: I’m uncomfortably aware that I border on paraphrase and not translation in the last line particularly. The line casts flicker down … Continue reading →

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Neruda LXXXVI

Posted on March 18, 2021 by JMN

[LXXXVI]Oh Cruz del Sur, oh trébol de fósforo fragante,O Southern Cross, O cloverleaf of fragrant phosphorous,con cuatro besos hoy penetró tu hermosuratoday your beauty pierced with four kissesy atravesó la sombra y mi sombrero:and crossed over the shadow and my … Continue reading →

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Story Power

Posted on March 17, 2021 by JMN

There is one form of power that has fascinated me ever since I was a girl… the power of storytelling. In this May, 2019 essay, novelist Elena Ferrante writes that the “Decameron” by Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) made a great impression … Continue reading →

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Travesía (5)

Posted on March 14, 2021 by JMN

Versión castellana del poema “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” (1856) de Walt WhitmanEnglish text at http://www.poetryfoundation.orgSpanish Interpretation by JMN [Translator’s note: Though officially Spanish has imported the word “ferry,” I haven’t been happy with using it in the title of my rendering … Continue reading →

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The Humble Art

Posted on March 13, 2021 by JMN

I support the premise, aspirationally, that translation “involves being a writer,” to quote this article. The premise piggybacks on something I took on board long ago — that the first asset of a capable translator is to write well in … Continue reading →

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‘Ethics of Translation’ (?)

Posted on March 12, 2021 by JMN

As a presumptive translator I’m nagged by a sense of straying where I don’t belong. Where is my writ to translate into a non-native language, for example? I didn’t suck Spanish from mother’s teat. How can I possibly match what … Continue reading →

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