TRANSLATION AND MEANING: A CULTURAL- COGNITIVE ...

among others, by L.S.Spartali, G.D.Pencioiu, I.D.Ghiocel, I.C.Săvescu,
I.Theodorescu. This new kind of poetry is nevertheless admired by the
symbolist poets grouped around the Literatorul circle.
Starting with 1900, the interest in translating Poe’s poems into
Romanian grows among the symbolists. Pompiliu Păltănea, I.L.Caragiale
and Al.P. Stamatiad are some of the translators and poems such as
Eldorado, Ulalume, Lenore, To One in Paradise, The Haunted Palace
become accessible to the Romanian public in its own language. All the
versions signed by these symbolist writers bear the authoritative sign of
Mallarmé. Their faithfulness to the French version is not in favour of Poe’s
originality, because Mallarmé achieves a prose translation of Poe’s poems in
which much of the originality in style (rhyme, rhythm, alliterations,
repetitions) is lost.
The ‘modernists’ such as Ion Barbu, Tudor Arghezi, Dan Botta, Ion
Vinea are also enthusiastic about Poe’s poems. Lucian Blaga translates
Annabel Lee, Philippide translates Ulalume. Dan Botta’s version of the
poems is published in 1963 in the volume Scrieri alese, with a preface
signed by Zoe Dumitrescu Buşulenga and versions signed by Emil Gulian
and Dan Botta for poetry and Ion Vinea for prose.
Emil Gulian’s version is published in the inter-war period, more
precisely in 1938 - a peak year in the reception of Poe’s poetry in Romania
of that time. It is based on the original English version and will be discussed
in our paper as Version 1. It is mainly a translation of meaning with losses
in form.
Another version that will be included in our paper as Version 3 is
signed by Mihu Dragomir, a poet himself, and was published in 1964 as
Poezii şi poeme. This version excels in faithfulness to the original in both
form and meaning. Versions 2 and 4 are very recent, belonging to Procopie
Clonţea (2004: 46-49), and, respectively, to me (2005).
Other well-known poets such as Ş. A. Doinaş, N. Stănescu, M.
Sorescu have tried to extend their admiration for Poe by publishing
translations of his poems. Liviu Cotrău gathered various Romanian versions
published along years in the volume E.A.Poe – Annabel Lee şi alte poeme,
in whose preface he presents at large the history of translating Poe into
Romanian (Poe, 1987: 5-31).
3. An analysis of the poem “To Helen”
The poem To Helen gravitates around beauty, considered by Poe as
the “sole legitimate province of the poem”, and incarnated in this poem by
Helen. The choice of this feminine name, one of Poe’s favourites (also