zero Posted January 29, 2007 Report Share Posted January 29, 2007 I need someone with a good eye for the sound and sense of french poetry translation to take a crack at this line for an article. It's from Paul Eluard's La victoire de Guernica.Hommes réels pour qui le désespoirAlimente le feu dévorant de l'espoirOuvrons ensemble le dernier bourgeon de l'avenir Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adambrot Posted January 29, 2007 Report Share Posted January 29, 2007 here's my take, which is probably more literal than in prosaic:Real men, for whom the lost hopesFuel the fires that devour hopeTogether, let's open the last bud of the futureor something like thatcheersadambrot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted January 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 Real men, for whom the lost hopesFuel the fires that devour hopeTogether, let's open the last bud of the futureThanks for that. That's a pretty verbatim translation, I was curious to see how someone else would take a crack at it. I'd probably go with:Real men having lost all hopeFeed hope's devouring fireOpening together the future's last budIt's a question of the conscious choice of the translator to convey the sonority and the sense of the poet's intention. I had a well regarded translator of french poetry for a prof and he took some serious licenses to convey sonority. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davey Boy 2.0 Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 My take:Real men are porky and hopelessand have fiery ailments but hopeto open together the last portion of tomorrow'sbeef bourginon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allison Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 As far as I remember from an art history class(the obvious tie to Picasso) I think all the above translations are a bit off.I think( in the interests of the intent of the stanza)in English it should read more like;Real men for whom despairFuels hope's devouring fire...blah blah blah.That being said my French is abysmal and my remembrance of art history class is drug addled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adambrot Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 No, the original French implies that the fire that devours hope is fueled (for real men) by a lack of hope. The last sentence is the optimistic one, saying let's get together and open the future's last remaining bud.cheersadambrot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted January 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 No, the original French implies that the fire that devours hope is fueled (for real men) by a lack of hope. Explain that point better? I'm interested in specifically what in the tense and phrasing your getting at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phorbesie Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 desespoir = despair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AD Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 My take:Real men are porky and hopelessand have fiery ailments but hopeto open together the last portion of tomorrow'sbeef bourginoni just spit out water from laughing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adambrot Posted January 31, 2007 Report Share Posted January 31, 2007 Yes, despair is a more succinct translation however, while redundant, I was going for a direct literal translation of the repetitious play on the 'hope' word (espoir). Real men, for whom despair (the lost hopes)Fuel(s) the fires that devour hopeTogether, let's open the last bud of the futurecheersadambrot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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