“Translations (like wives) are seldom strictly faithful if they are in the least attractive.”

—  Roy Campbell (poet)

Poetry Review (June-July 1949)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Translations (like wives) are seldom strictly faithful if they are in the least attractive." by Roy Campbell (poet)?
Roy Campbell (poet) photo
Roy Campbell (poet) 10
South African poet 1901–1957

Related quotes

Prevale photo

“The attractive woman is simply complicated, strictly intelligent and damn charming.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: La donna attraente è semplicemente complicata, rigorosamente intelligente e dannatamente affascinante.
Source: prevale.net

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield photo

“Advice is seldom welcome; and those who want it the most always like it the least.”

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) British statesman and man of letters

29 January 1748
Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman (1774)

“There are some men who are consoled by the idea that there are women less attractive than their wives; and others who are haunted by the knowledge that there are more attractive.”

John Fowles book The French Lieutenant's Woman

Source: The French Lieutenant's Woman

Marjane Satrapi photo

“The words are not the same and the feeling is not the same. You know, they say in France that translation is like a woman. She is either beautiful or faithful. So it’s better when she’s beautiful because when she’s too faithful it might be very ugly. This is French people. This translation, though, is very well made. This is my American editor, who knows me very well who has made the translation. But in any translation you lose a little bit.”

Marjane Satrapi (1969) Artist

On her views regarding the translation of works in “AN INTERVIEW WITH MARJANE SATRAPI” http://www.bookslut.com/features/2004_10_003261.php in Book Slut (October 2004)

Francisco Aragón photo

“When I started to make translations I was just doing it intuitively, and my tendency was to stick to the original as much as possible. Then I gained more confidence in my own poetry and my own writing and I began to become less concerned about being strictly faithful to the original and more concerned with producing a good poem in English. What I have often found—especially in the translations that are done by scholars—is that they’re very faithful to the content of the original language, but in English they don’t really sound that good as poems.”

Francisco Aragón (1968) poet

On translating Spanish poetry into English in “Interview with Francisco Aragón: Latino Poetry From All Its Perspectives” https://www.sampsoniaway.org/literary-voices/2010/09/16/interview-with-francisco-aragon-latino-poetry-from-all-its-perspectives/ in Sampsonia Way (2010 Sept 16)

Xu Yuanchong photo

“Literary translation may be considered as rivalry between two languages (or even between two cultures) which vie to express the original idea better. It should be faithful to the original at least, and beautiful at best. A literary translator should exploit the advantage of the target language, that is to say, make the fullest possible use of the best expressions of the target language in order to make the reader understand, enjoy and delight in the translated text.”

Xu Yuanchong (1921) Translator of Chinese poetry

"New Translation Theories of the New Age" http://en.cnki.com.cn/Article_en/CJFDTOTAL-ZGFY200003000.htm, Chinese Translators Journal, 2000, issue 3, p. 2

Xu Yuanchong photo

“A verse translation should be faithful to the original, less in form than in sense. Or in other words, a poetic translation should be as beautiful as the original in sense, in sound and, if possible, in form.”

Xu Yuanchong (1921) Translator of Chinese poetry

Source: 300 Tang Poems: A New Translation (1987), p. xxii

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky photo

“Those who translate Pistis by "Faith," are utterly wrong. The word "faith" as grace or something to be believed in through unreasoned or blind faith, is a word that dates only since Christianity.”

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky book The Key to Theosophy

Source: The Key to Theosophy (1889)

Billy Collins photo

“For the translator of poetry, there is no activity that brings you into a closer, more intimate contact with language, both the second language and your own language, which translation allows you to experience freshly. Of course, translation is the impossible art which is why it attracts often the best minds, at least those driven by difficulty. The best metaphor I know for translation is from my friend Eamon Grennan, who translated the poems of Leopardi. It's like walking in a clear mountain stream, looking at colorful stones in the water. You find one so gorgeous, you put it in your pocket, take it home and put it on a shelf. In the morning you are surprised that the stone looks so dull and without luster. You have the stone, but you have removed it from the water of its home language so it has lost its luster.”

Billy Collins (1941) American poet

Interview with Kritya: In the Name of Poetry

Related topics