a Glass Floor Underfoot - 28. On Petronius

My practice is to read your translation and Google's side by side.  I pay more attention to the technical aspects as the meaning is usually lost to me - I'm a technically-educated country boy who groped his way through college English 101.  Robert Frost, I get. Robert Jentzsch I doubt if I would understand in any language.

But I'm always fascinated by the effort required to produce a translated poem that matches both form and content, and this was one of the best in that respect - from what I've read here so far.  So, I go away with at least that "education".  

Now the poet strips away the veneer of splendor and majesty. The empires of the past exposed for their tawdriness must be compared to those in our own day. Your translation surely ought to be a must-read. 

On 1/18/2023 at 2:34 PM, Backwoods Boy said:

My practice is to read your translation and Google's side by side.  I pay more attention to the technical aspects as the meaning is usually lost to me - I'm a technically-educated country boy who groped his way through college English 101.  Robert Frost, I get. Robert Jentzsch I doubt if I would understand in any language.

But I'm always fascinated by the effort required to produce a translated poem that matches both form and content, and this was one of the best in that respect - from what I've read here so far.  So, I go away with at least that "education".  

Thanks for reading, Backwoods Boy, as always. It's nice to hear your opinions, and read your observations. I think I'm already a hopeless case and can speak the "language of poetry" enough to muddle my way through most texts. Many I don't get, but as someone much wiser than I am once wrote, you don't need to understand a poem for it to communicate with you. For me, Jentzsch falls in that category.

Thanks again

On 1/19/2023 at 4:04 AM, Parker Owens said:

Now the poet strips away the veneer of splendor and majesty. The empires of the past exposed for their tawdriness must be compared to those in our own day. Your translation surely ought to be a must-read. 

For me, Jentzsch is quite right to call out the unhealthy nature of reviving yet another version of Neo-Classicism. It was a trend before WW1, and a trend WW1 made sure died once and for all. The modern world has too many dangers to keep reviving a fairy tale model of the Roman Empire. 

This poem, honestly, made me admire Jentzsch all the more. And it's a wonderfully written piece too; like a expertly wrought nail in the coffin of Classicism