I have written about my approach to translation from one language to another here.  Recently, it occurred to me that recasting a poem from one form to another in the same language is also a form of  translation. Let me illustrate. In April of this year, I posted my translation of the introduction to Baudelaire's…

The following variation was written a few years later than the Variations I describe  here.   The theme it varies is from the "To the Reader" introduction to Les Fleurs du Mal, or rather from my translation of "To the Reader,"  which I may share at some point.   It’s true, my friend, you have free…

Elsewhere  I promised to discuss my philosophy of translations.    First and foremost, my goal has always been to produce a satisfactory poem in English that represents to the best of my ability the meanings, nuances and rhythms of the original poem.   If the original poem has an underlying rhyme scheme, I attempt to…

This is my translation of the famous introduction to the Flowers of Evil, just as I wrote it some twenty years ago.   My goal was to reproduce the rhyme scheme of the original  ( so much easier in French) and to give the English reader a sense of the poet's overripe imagery.   You can judge…

And this is my second translation from Baudelaire's Fleurs du Mal: Very Far From Here by C.  Baudelaire (tr. 1967) This is the sacred chamber where That much bejeweled maiden fair Tranquil and ever-ready there Raising her breasts to the skies aloft Hears the drainpipes crying oft. It is the room of Dorothy, Then breeze…

For many years, I have been interested in the art of translation.   In the future, I will post my thoughts on the approach one should take to translation.   Meanwhile, here is the first I  ever did: The Giantess (La Géante) by Charles Baudelaire Trans 1967 When Nature, with artistic inspiration Conceived a giantess…