That was really just an excuse to put up the first poll ever in Creative Expression.

I'm not really into poetry to begin with so I guess it would depend on the author. I've liked stuff by Yehuda Amichai and Alexander Pushkin, but I did not Pablo Neruda.

I once tried a bit of Harry Potter #1 in Hebrew and it was enjoyable. Nevertheless, it seems to me impossible for translated poetry to be an accurate rendition of the original.

"Poetry is by definition untranslatable" --Roman Jakobson
I never tried it, so I don't know if I'd enjoy it. Then again, I'm not much into poetry in the first place.

Speaking of Harry Potter, see wiki.
I occasionally read the Hebrew translator's blog, where she -- oh, well, read it yourself.

here's some (Ahavati, I'm sorry, but I just don't get it. It does frustrate me that I don't understand poetry and others do- that there's a beauty there that I'm not seeing.)

Thanks. (translater of the Hebrew HP?)

i think it losses its significance once its translated

I can barely tolerate most poetry in its native tongue......

A teenager I know, born in Israel to American parents, told me that he doesn't like the Hebrew translation of Harry Potter, he says it's dumbed down from the original. An example he gave me, and that I remember is that it says somplace "behind the veil", he would have translated it as "אחרי הפרגוד" but the translator wrote "אחרי הוילון". Another time he told me that he thought that they should have translated the incantations from Latin into Aramaic in the Hebrew translation.

Perhaps they thought that making it accessable to the average kid was more important than pleasing the really bright ones, many of whom would read the English original in any case.

I have no idea, my Hebrew isn't modern enough, but believe it. It's been a while since I looked at it- maybe sixth, eighth grade.

The translator was probably trying to keep the easy-to-readness of HP -- which if you realize is probably one of the most major reasons for it being so popular. The English version is also very dumbed down (at least what I read in English, which is parts of one, two, and perhaps three).

existwhere? -- I'll check it out and yes.

What language did you read the others in?
Also, what did you observe dumbed down in American English?

Hebrew. I saved the first two for when I know another language.
Oops, not dumbed down, just dumbed. The (original) English version isn't on a particularly high level either.

I see. I was curious what it is that you observe. (it's been years since I read them, and don't recall thinking it was dumbed.)

(Maybe it seemed so because after using a dictionary to read it the first time, it seemed just like what it was, ie, a children's book, when I read it again. But even so, it definitely isn't more that average, which is understandable considering that it's meant for such a wide age range. Then again, I know only of the first three books.

I'm sorry for being so slow today, but I still don't understand how it was dumbed, and what makes it so.

The teenager didn't say the whole original was on a high level (the books are, after all, written for children), but that it did have the occasional phrase that did, and that it was these that were brought down to the level of the rest of the book by the translation. The kid is more into Tolkien, anyway.

It's a children's book, and not a particularly high-level children's book either.


Oh, okay. Thanks.

I post for a specific reason; not to expect responses, understanding or frustration. There is no reason to apologize for something you don't personally relate to.

It was simply an observation by a poet who, probably while sitting by a window sipping early morning tea, noted a late frost covering chrysanthemums in a white crysalis. And for that briefest of moment, prior to the sun defining their physical heritage, they were, in a spiritual sense, no different.

There is a level of unification among certain writers (Rumi, Basho, etc.) where the translation of verse removes itself from the mental process of analyzation to the spiritual process of feeling. To define the "felt" is impossible except to those who are gifted in expression. To understand the definition is impossible except to those who can feel it. It's akin to an aquatic language; however, one that can be developed.

What is the reason?

How does one develop it?

I'm no expert, but I'm guessing that it works like any other aquired taste it slowly grows on you. it seems to me that it must begin with a few pieces or lines that just sweep you away, that somehow you sort of click with, something that strikes a personal chord, and eventually the taste expands to include other works that slowly begin to be palatable.

...Looking forward to Ahavati's response.

when i'm gauging my comprehension in a new language i'll sometimes read translated poetry alongside the original. otherwise i don't read much poetry, translated or not.

How often do you learn a new language?

And what number is it up to now?

when i need solid reading ability in a new language for research purposes. so not that often. i shouldn't have said "new" in my first post - pretty much whenever i fly i bring a poetry or short story anthology to test/brush-up on comprehension of a language i can already read.