Does translated poem lose originality?

Question

Do not you think that translating a poem makes a totally different poem? Do you prefer reading the original text or the translated one?

Answer 1

i'd much prefer reading the original text, but i'm not so fluent in any other languages. a bit of this and a bit of that gets you patchy scratchy results.

something always gets lost in translation, whether it's a mood or subtle connotation, the translator always puts his/her own spin on things and often, i can't help but wonder if they captured what the poet captured. a good example of this is bashō's "frog" haiku which has over 30 different translations.

Answer 2

I don't think it makes a totally different poem, but it does change the poem. A poet chooses words very carefully and some words or idioms don't translate well.

However, unless you can read the language that the poem was originally written in, you would miss out on some interesting ideas if it weren't translated into your language.

I took a course in college in literature in a particular language and it was striking how different the effect of stories and poems was in the original language vs in English.

Very interesting question!

Answer 3

I cant read anything but english....so I like knowing the substance of the writting but the origonal language is best

Answer 4

yes it does lose its originality. I do like to read both versions though. I think each version has its own message.