A Log Cabin Out of Stone: - Dartmouth College

does not mean that we become Romans, rather we read the poem as if it were intended
for us. The Romans for example did not find the Latin a language barrier in
understanding the poetry. The Romans were able to enjoy the discussion of words, the
flow of the meter, and the sounds of the poetic devices. Reading a translation of this sort
would give a modern reader the same opportunity that the original readers had. The
words should feel natural and depict an accessible thought. But, how easy to understand
was Horace’s poetry to begin with? There is a chance of oversimplifying the poem. By
making the translation above all else, an accessible rendition of Horace, are we
sacrificing the richness we are trying to preserve? There must be a middle road. It is
possible to render a poem in a new language without forestalling the reader’s analysis of
the poem. The task is in the transfer.
Substitution, Compensation and Creation
After the translator has identified the cultural chasms between the original and the
target, the translator is forced to deal with the difference. Indeed, the name Caesar will
never mean to me what it meant to Horace, but we have to try to push the poem to his
level so that when we read Caesar in translation, we may not feel the way the author felt
when writing it, but we may have a better understanding of how the author felt.
When confronted with emotionally and culturally significant items how far do
you go? Even though we cannot be entirely certain how the Romans received poetry, we
do have some idea based on extrapolation. Giving American readers the same experience
as Romans involves a serious amount of rebuilding. For instance if one were translating
a Latin poem that involved Spain, how would they translate this country? Our
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