TRANSLATION AND MEANING: A CULTURAL- COGNITIVE ...

poem as a text made up of n elements disposed in one or more types of
series, chosen or adopted by the poet (Bantaş, Croitoru, 1998:126). A
complete analysis of a poem will thus disclose the existence of a pattern
which is at the same time grammatical, stylistic and prosodical. After this
analysis, the translator is supposed to turn into a poet who will re-write the
original poem in the TL. In translating it, s/he should resort to the same
structures and patterns which form the original SL code: rhymed verse, free
verse or blank verse. The translator is not supposed to break these patterns
or to introduce rhymes when the poet chose free verse. The same rule (no
loss, no gain) should apply to the level of content: the translator is expected
to reproduce the poet’s metaphors, vocabulary, style and metrical code. The
poetic code of a poem, whether clear or hermetic, should remain unchanged
in the translation.
The difficulty of translating poetry is that the translator is supposed
to render as accurately as possible all the intellectual processes the poet
himself has experienced, his emotional state, his mental disposition, his
experiences and searching while trying to find the most effective (‘catchy’)
word. In other words, a translator should choose the same path, be it straight
or winding, that the poet himself has ‘walked’ on (Bantaş, Croitoru,
1998:127).
After the thorough analysis of the original, when the poem becomes
clear and entirely explicit for the translator, its translated version often runs
the risk of turning more explicit, even easier and more ostentatious than the
original. That is why the analysis and interpretation of the poem should be
made only for the translator’s own use (Bantaş, Croitoru, 1998:127). Any
‘gain’ in clarity may distort the author’s intention as well as the reader’s
interpretation of the original poem. Translation should neither increase nor
facillitate the difficulties in understanding a poem.
2. Poe’s poems in Romanian
Rooted in the classical form and in the Romantic poetics, Poe’s
poetry marks a step of transition towards the Symbolist movement, and has
undoubtedly been a revelation for many artists both in America and Europe.
Poe has been widely translated into Romanian, starting with the beginning
of the twentieth century. At first, his work was translated via the French
versions of Mallarmé, gathered in a volume in 1888, with illustrations by
Edouard Manet.
The first Romanian versions of Poe’s prose were published in 1861,
but no version of Poesque poems draws the attention of the Romanian
public before 1900, although by that time 8 such versions appeared, signed,