Famous Translation Poems by Famous Poets
These are examples of famous Translation poems written by some of the greatest and most-well-known modern and classical poets. PoetrySoup is a great educational poetry resource of famous translation poems. These examples illustrate what a famous translation poem looks like and its form, scheme, or style (where appropriate).
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by
Burns, Robert
..., a term of Ossian’s for the different divisions of a digressive poem. See his Cath-Loda, vol. 2 of M’Pherson’s translation.—R. B. [back]
Note 2. The seven stanzas following this were first printed in the Edinburgh edition, 1787. Other stanzas, never published by Burns himself, are given on p. 180. [back]
Note 3. The Wallaces.—R. B. [back]
Note 4. William Wallace.—R. B. [back]
Note 5. Adam Wallace of Rich...Read more of this...
by
Smart, Christopher
...;
And he, who kneels and chants,
Prevails his passions to control,
Finds meat and med'cine to the soul,
Which for translation pants.
LXV
For ADORATION, beyond match,
The scholar bullfinch aims to catch
The soft flute's iv'ry touch;
And, careless on the hazel spray,
The daring redbreast keeps at bay
The damsel's greedy clutch.
LXVI
For ADORATION in the skies,
The Lord's philosopher espies
The Dog, the Ram, and Rose;
The planet's ring, Orion's s...Read more of this...
by
Kipling, Rudyard
...Horace, BK. V., Ode 3 "Regulus"-- A Diversity of Creatures
There are whose study is of smells,
And to attentive schools rehearse
How something mixed with something else
Makes something worse.
Some cultivate in broths impure
The clients of our body--these,
Increasing without Venus, cure,
Or cause, disease.
Others the heated wheel extol...Read more of this...
by
Rilke, Rainer Maria
...Four Translations
Lord: it is time. The summer was immense.
Lay your shadow on the sundials
and let loose the wind in the fields.
Bid the last fruits to be full;
give them another two more southerly days,
press them to ripeness, and chase
the last sweetness into the heavy wine.
Whoever has no house now will not build one
anymore.
Whoever ...Read more of this...
by
Dickinson, Emily
...Better -- than Music! For I -- who heard it --
I was used -- to the Birds -- before --
This -- was different -- 'Twas Translation --
Of all tunes I knew -- and more --
'Twasn't contained -- like other stanza --
No one could play it -- the second time --
But the Composer -- perfect Mozart --
Perish with him -- that Keyless Rhyme!
So -- Children -- told how Brooks in Eden --
Bubbled a better -- Melody --
Quaintly infer -- Eve's great surrender --
Urging the feet -- that wou...Read more of this...
by
Fu, Du
...le green Hill pear flower little red Reed pipe upstairs emit One goose into high sky The sky's water has fallen, and autumn clouds are thin, The western wind has blown ten thousand li. This morning's scene is good and fine, Long rain has not harmed the land. The row of willows begins to show green, The pear tree on the hill has little red flowers. A huji...Read more of this...
by
Bradstreet, Anne
...ses, crosses, and vexation,
209 In weight, in frequency and long duration
210 Can make him deeply groan for that divine Translation.
31
211 The Mariner that on smooth waves doth glide
212 Sings merrily and steers his Barque with ease
213 As if he had command of wind and tide
214 And now becomes great Master of the seas,
215 But suddenly a storm spoils all the sport
216 And makes him long for a more quiet port,
217 Which 'gainst all adverse winds may serve for fort.Read more of this...
by
Kramberger, Taja
...t every dead one has a name.
© Taja Kramberger, Z roba klifa / From the Edge of a Cliff, CSK, Ljubljana, 2011
© Translation by Špela Drnovšek Zorko, 2012
...Read more of this...
by
Emerson, Ralph Waldo
...n a lightening conductor for people.
Now I have broken my back. Such is fate.
© Copyright Alec Vagapov's translation...Read more of this...
by
Bai, Li
...-blossom flows down stream and is gone into the unknown,
I have a world apart that is not among men.
- English Translation -...Read more of this...
by
Clampitt, Amy
...ightly
fatigued by the plane trip from Hawaii, are
disposed on the sidewalks; alstroemerias, freesias
fattened a bit in translation from overseas; gladioli
likewise estranged from their piercing ancestral crimson;
as well as, less altered from the original blue cornflower
of the roadsides and railway embankments of Europe, these
bachelor's buttons. But it isn't the railway embankments
their featherweight wheels of cobalt remind me of, it's
a row of them among prim colonn...Read more of this...
by
Fu, Du
...satisfied top of wall Sigh also sob Night late more grasp candle Opposite like dream Red clouds tower in the west, The sun is sinking on the plain. A sparrow chirps on the wicker gate, I return from a thousand li away. My wife and children are shocked to see me, Then calm themselves and wipe their tears. I floated through this disordered life, By chance I have managed to ...Read more of this...
by
Whitman, Walt
...ce a life that shall be copious, vehement, spiritual, bold;
I announce an end that shall lightly and joyfully meet its translation;
I announce myriads of youths, beautiful, gigantic, sweet-blooded;
I announce a race of splendid and savage old men.
3
O thicker and faster! (So long!)
O crowding too close upon me;
I foresee too much—it means more than I thought;
It appears to me I am dying.
Hasten throat, and sound your last!
Salute me—salute the days once more....Read more of this...
by
Basho, Matsuo
...Following are several translations
of the 'Old Pond' poem, which may be
the most famous of all haiku:
Furuike ya
kawazu tobikomu
mizu no oto
-- Basho
Literal Translation
Fu-ru (old) i-ke (pond) ya,
ka-wa-zu (frog) to-bi-ko-mu (jumping into)
mi-zu (water) no o-to (sound)
The old pond--
a frog jumps in,
sound of water.
Translated by Robert Hass
Old pond....Read more of this...
by
Voznesensky, Andrei
...r>..........
It isn't so long as parabola, is it?
© Copyright Alec Vagapov's translation...Read more of this...
by
Chaucer, Geoffrey
...mediaeval legends
for his pride and luxury
16. Cor meum eructavit: literally, "My heart has belched forth;"
in our translation, (i.e. the Authorised "King James" Version -
Transcriber) "My heart is inditing a goodly matter." (Ps. xlv.
1.). "Buf" is meant to represent the sound of an eructation, and
to show the "great reverence" with which "those in possession,"
the monks of the rich monasteries, performed divine service,
17. N'ere thou ou...Read more of this...
by
Eliot, T S (Thomas Stearns)
...on the Mount) from which these words are taken,
will be found translated in the late Henry Clarke Warren's Buddhism
in Translation (Harvard Oriental Series). Mr. Warren was one
of the great pioneers of Buddhist studies in the Occident.
309. From St. Augustine's Confessions again. The
collocation
of these two representatives of eastern and western asceticism,
as the culmination of this part of the poem, is not an accident.
V. WHAT THE THUNDER S...Read more of this...
by
Burgos, Julia de
...man,
I will be in their midst with the torch in my hand.
Copyright (c) 2005, Julia de Burgos. All rights reserved.
Translation (c) 2005, Jack Agüeros....Read more of this...
by
Fu, Du
...Sand soft sun colour late Traveller sorrow all become decrease Stay here again what this I remember the temple, this route I've travelled before, I recall the bridge as I cross it again. It seems the hills and rivers have been waiting, The flowers and willows all are selfless now. The field is sleek and vivid, thin mist shines, On soft sand, the sunlight's colour shows it's late. All the traveller's sorrow f...Read more of this...
by
Akhmatova, Anna
...Copyright Anna Akhmatova
Copyright English translation by Ilya Shambat (ilya_shambat@yahoo.com)
Origin: http://www.geocities.com/ilya_shambat/akhmatova.html
* I *
We thought we were beggars, we thought we had nothing at all
But then when we started to lose one thing after another,
Each day became
A memorial day --
And then we made songs
Of great divine generosity
And ...Read more of this...
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