{"id":128876,"date":"2018-08-29T09:00:24","date_gmt":"2018-08-29T13:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=128876"},"modified":"2018-08-29T12:41:34","modified_gmt":"2018-08-29T16:41:34","slug":"an-ovidian-taste-test-the-old-verse-translations-of-ovids-metamorphoses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/08\/29\/an-ovidian-taste-test-the-old-verse-translations-of-ovids-metamorphoses\/","title":{"rendered":"An Ovidian Taste Test: The Old Verse Translations of Ovid\u2019s &#8216;Metamorphoses&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div class=\"gmail_default\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/theblindmansbuff-1112016t94251.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-128884\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/theblindmansbuff-1112016t94251.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"781\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/theblindmansbuff-1112016t94251.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/theblindmansbuff-1112016t94251-300x234.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/theblindmansbuff-1112016t94251-768x600.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 62.5em) 67vw, 100vw\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div class=\"gmail_default\">\n<p>All right, let\u2019s do this as a speed round. Quick in, quick out. No diddling.<\/p>\n<p>Fact: there were, between 1550 and 1750, exactly three supremo-supremo English versions of Ovid\u2019s\u00a0<em>Metamorphoses<\/em>. They are as follows:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Arthur Golding<\/strong>,\u00a0<em>The XV Bookes of P. Ovidius Naso, entytuled Metamorphosis, translated oute of Latin into English meeter, by Arthur Golding Gentleman, A work very pleasaunt and delectable<\/em>, 1567.<\/li>\n<li><strong>George Sandys<\/strong>,\u00a0<em>Ovid\u2019s Metamorphosis Englished, Mythologiz\u2019d, and Represented in Figures<\/em>, 1632.<\/li>\n<li><strong>John Dryden\u00a0<\/strong>et al.,\u00a0<em>Ovid\u2019s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books, Translated by the Most Eminent Hands\u00a0<\/em>(sometimes called the \u201cGarth\u201d Ovid, after its editor, Sir Samuel Garth), 1717.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Much could be said about each of these. Golding was read and pilfered by Shakespeare. Sandys wrote part of his version in what is now the State of Virginia. Dryden is the father of English criticism. Golding writes in what are called fourteeners. Sandys provides notes (and supplementary essays) like a Victorian eccentric. Dryden wrote \u201cAbsalom and Achitophel<em>.<\/em>\u201d We could spend all day on this kind of thing.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, what I want is to put you in a position to judge between these guys\u2019 versions. We\u2019re just gonna do a simple little comparison. I\u2019ll throw down a couple of judgments, and point out what you might otherwise miss.<\/p>\n<p>You probably know it\u2019s no easy thing, judging between rival verse translations, especially when they were produced before the 19th century. The good news has always been that it hardly matters how hard a task is, when no one\u2019s gonna do it. Easy, hard\u2014comes to the same thing. Yet\u00a0somebody\u00a0has to go in there. Somebody born after 1960.<\/p>\n<p>How \u2019bout\u00a0you? You don\u2019t have to read the whole\u00a0<em>Metamorphoses<\/em>\u00a0three times; I\u2019ve done it for you. The main thing is you gotta concentrate on the three exhibits presented below. If you read \u2019em carelessly they will seem more or less the same to you. And here\u2019s the hideous part. They might seem the same to you, even if you concentrate. But at least you\u2019ll know where you stand. You\u2019ll be able to say with conviction \u201cTo hell with all of \u2019em.\u201d<br \/>\n<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>One thing before we get into it. The passage I selected (<em>Metamorphoses<\/em>\u00a0I: 293\u2013308) is not representative of the book as a whole. It\u2019s rather more self-contained and memorable than Ovid\u2019s usual run of sixteen lines. That\u2019s the way it goes with narrative poetry. Forward momentum takes precedence over everything, and so passages like the one I\u2019m about to quote are always gonna be exceptional. That\u2019s why I\u2019m quoting it, though. It\u2019s easy on the eyes. Also, it doesn\u2019t require a lot of explanation. All you need to know is that Ovid is describing a Flood, capital F. It\u2019s a punishment, like in the book of Genesis. And the poet is having a good time describing the upside-down world, where everything is underwater.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s the original Latin, for all the good that\u2019s gonna do anybody:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Occupat hic collem, cumba sedet alter adunca<br \/>\net ducit remos illic, ubi nuper arabat:<br \/>\nille supra segetes aut mersae culmina villae<br \/>\nnavigat, hic summa piscem deprendit in ulmo.<br \/>\nfigitur in viridi, si fors tulit, ancora prato,<br \/>\naut subiecta terunt curvae vineta carinae;<br \/>\net, modo qua graciles gramen carpsere capellae,<br \/>\nnunc ibi deformes ponunt sua corpora phocae.<br \/>\nmirantur sub aqua lucos urbesque domosque<br \/>\nNereides, silvasque tenent delphines et altis<br \/>\nincursant ramis agitataque robora pulsant.<br \/>\nnat lupus inter oves, fulvos vehit unda leones,<br \/>\nunda vehit tigres; nec vires fulminis apro,<br \/>\ncrura nec ablato prosunt velocia cervo,<br \/>\nquaesitisque diu terris, ubi sistere possit,<br \/>\nin mare lassatis volucris vaga decidit alis.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Just for shits and giggles, here\u2019s an image of the above passage as it appears in a facsimile of the 1518 annotated Latin version. Check the density of marginalia:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/unnamed-2-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-128878\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/unnamed-2-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"750\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/unnamed-2-1.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/unnamed-2-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/unnamed-2-1-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 62.5em) 67vw, 100vw\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div class=\"gmail_default\">\u00a0Sexy! Anyway here\u2019s a completely straightforward prose translation (the old Mary Innes version, Penguin Classics, 1955), so you know just exactly what the Latin\u00a0says:<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p>Some tried to escape by climbing to the hilltops, others, sitting in their curved boats, plied the oars where lately they had been ploughing; some sailed over cornlands, over the submerged roofs of their homes, while some found fish in the topmost branches of the elms. At times it happened that they dropped anchor in green meadows, sometimes the curved keels grazed vineyards that lay beneath them. Where lately sinewy goats cropped the grass, now ugly seals disported themselves. The Nereids wondered to see groves and towns and houses under the water; dolphins took possession of the woods, and dashed against high branches, shaking the oak trees as they knocked against them. Wolves swam among the flocks, and the waves supported tawny lions, and tigers too. The lightning stroke of his strong tusk was of no use, then, to the wild boar, nor his swift legs to the stag\u2014both alike were swept away. Wandering birds searched long for some land where they might rest, till their wings grew weary and they fell into the sea.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Right. Now take a moment and\u00a0savor\u00a0it. Don\u2019t be impossible. That\u2019s some A#1 poetry, right there. People boating above their own homes, fish living in trees. Water nymphs can suddenly go up to the front door and knock. Dolphins bumping into oaks. Lions, tigers, wolves, all dog-paddling. And of course birds can\u2019t stay in the air forever, so eventually they plunk down dead into the water. It\u2019s a nice bit.<\/p>\n<p>So now we look at Exhibit 1, Arthur Golding, 1567. Shakespeare was, like, three. Note that I am here (and everywhere) modernizing the shit out of the spelling and punctuation, basically adjusting any piece of mechanics that might interfere with your being able to sight-read the meter:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Some climb\u00e8d up to tops of hills, and some rowed to and fro<br \/>\nin boats, where they not long before to plough and cart did go.<br \/>\nOne over corn and tops of towns, whom waves did overwhelm,<br \/>\ndoth sail in ship; another sits a fishing in an elm.<br \/>\nIn meadows green were anchors cast (so fortune did provide)<br \/>\nand crooked ships did shadow vines, the which the flood did hide.<br \/>\nAnd where but t\u2019other day before did feed the hungry goat,<br \/>\nthe ugly seals and porpoises now to and fro did float.<br \/>\nThe sea nymphs wondered under waves the towns and groves to see,<br \/>\nand dolphins played among the tops and boughs of every tree.<br \/>\nThe grim and greedy wolf did swim among the siely sheep,<br \/>\nthe lion and the tiger fierce were borne upon the deep.<br \/>\nIt booted not the foaming boar his crooked tusks to whet;<br \/>\nthe running hart could in the stream by swiftness nothing get.<br \/>\nThe fleeting fowls, long having sought for land to rest upon,<br \/>\ninto the sea, with weary wings, were driv\u2019n to fall anon.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>One of the main objections voiced against the above is padding. For instance, note the frequency with which the word \u201cdid\u201d is inserted to fill out the meter. There\u2019s\u00a0eight\u00a0of those little guys up there, not one of \u2019em good (\u201cdid go\u201d instead of \u201cwent\u201d; \u201cdid feed\u201d instead of \u201cfed\u201d and so on). On the other hand, anybody can see there\u2019s some real poetry in a few of those lines. I quite like \u201cIt booted not the foaming boar his crooked tusks to whet; the running hart could in the stream by swiftness nothing get.\u201d (A) it has a ring to it, and (B) it seems much better than anything you would get out of the bare sense: \u201cThe lightning stroke of his strong tusk was of no use, then, to the wild boar, nor his swift legs to the stag.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Time for Exhibit 2, George Sandys, 1632:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>One takes a hill; one in a boat deplores,<br \/>\nand where he lately plowed now strikes his oars.<br \/>\nO\u2019er corn, o\u2019er drown\u00e8d villages he sails:<br \/>\nthis from high elms entangled fishes hales.<br \/>\nIn fields they anchor cast, as chance did guide,<br \/>\nand ships the underlying vineyards hide.<br \/>\nWhere mountain-loving goats did lately graze,<br \/>\nthe sea-calf now his ugly body lays.<br \/>\nGroves, cities, temples, covered by the deep,<br \/>\nthe nymphs admire. In woods the dolphins keep<br \/>\nand chase about the boughs. The wolf doth swim<br \/>\namongst the sheep. The lion (now not grim)<br \/>\nand tigers tread the waves. Swift feet no more<br \/>\navail the hart, nor wounding tusks the boar.<br \/>\nThe wand\u2019ring birds, hid earth long sought in vain,<br \/>\nwith weary wings descend into the main.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Line one: \u201cto deplore\u201d meant \u201cto lament or bewail one\u2019s misfortunes,\u201d so don\u2019t let that trip you up. And once again, one\u00a0finds some poetry. The dolphins \u201cchase about the boughs.\u201d The \u201ctigers tread the waves.\u201d But you also find a lot of bloody awkward (now not grim) haling\u00a0of entangled fishes. When people criticized Sandys back in the day, the usual line was that his Ovid shows the dangers of the word-for-word approach to translation. In short, \u201cBye-bye, elegance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Exhibit 3, John Dryden, 1693 and reprinted in the \u201cGarth\u201d Ovid, 1717:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>One climbs a cliff; one in his boat is borne,<br \/>\nand ploughs above, where late he sowed his corn.<br \/>\nOthers o\u2019er chimney tops and turrets row,<br \/>\nand drop their anchors on the meads below:<br \/>\nor downward driv\u2019n, they bruise the tender vine,<br \/>\nor tossed aloft, are knocked against a pine.<br \/>\nAnd where of late the kids had cropped the grass,<br \/>\nthe monsters of the deep now take their place.<br \/>\nInsulting Nereids on the cities ride,<br \/>\nand wond\u2019ring dolphins o\u2019er the palace glide.<br \/>\nOn leaves and masts of mighty oaks they browse,<br \/>\nand their broad fins entangle in the boughs.<br \/>\nThe frighted wolf now swims among the sheep;<br \/>\nthe yellow lion wanders in the deep.<br \/>\nHis rapid force no longer helps the boar;<br \/>\nthe stag swims faster than he ran before.<br \/>\nThe fowls, long beating on their wings in vain,<br \/>\ndespair of land and drop into the main.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Just from these eighteen lines you can see why people thought Dryden represented a breakthrough. His philosophy was that word-for-word translation was stupid, because what happens is your original author has written something screwed up or inefficient or otherwise faulty, and it\u2019s just fine in the original because of the sounds\u2014but then you\u00a0lose\u00a0the sounds when you change the passage into English. So what are you gonna do? faithfully replicate the author\u2019s faults? The stuff wasn\u2019t even really faulty in the original: you\u2019re\u00a0making\u00a0it faulty by stripping the passage of its\u00a0warrant.<\/p>\n<p>So what are you supposed to do? Dryden basically said:\u00a0<em>You gotta do what you gotta do<\/em>. You nip and tuck the thing to the point where your result is elegant and limpid and has some reason for existing. You get some good outcomes that way.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInsulting Nereids\u201d is excellent. It\u2019s not in the Latin, but it\u2019s excellent. \u201cBrowse\u201d is tasty. \u201cThe stag swims faster than he ran before\u201d is kinda brilliant.<\/p>\n<p>And yet.<\/p>\n<p>Have you noticed that not one of these translators managed to include the part from the original about the dolphins smacking hard into the oak trees? The prose version had \u201cdolphins took possession of the woods, and dashed against high branches, shaking the oak trees as they knocked against them.\u201d Surely that\u2019s too good to chuck. In fact, the late Ted Hughes went ahead and improved the image into this:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Dolphins churn through copses.<br \/>\nHunting their prey into oak trees, they shake out acorns<br \/>\nThat sink slowly.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThat sink slowly\u201d! I remember, when I first read that, I ran to my Loeb Ovid to check the Latin and was sorely disappointed that Hughes had simply made it up. I wanted those acorns to be Ovid\u2019s. But you know what? Good is good. Indeed, I\u2019ll close with one of Hughes\u2019 even more radical departures, from just before the dolphins. It\u2019s not even a translation, but good is good and a good note to end on:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The Nereids roam astounded<br \/>\nThrough submerged gardens,<br \/>\nSwim in silent wonder into kitchens,<br \/>\nTouch the eyes of marble busts that gaze<br \/>\nDown long halls, under the wavering light.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><em>Anthony Madrid lives in Victoria, Texas. His second book is\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.spdbooks.org\/Products\/9780996982757\/try-never.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Try Never<\/a><em>. He is a correspondent for the\u00a0<\/em>Daily<em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>All right, let\u2019s do this as a speed round. Quick in, quick out. No diddling. Fact: there were, between 1550 and 1750, exactly three supremo-supremo English versions of Ovid\u2019s\u00a0Metamorphoses. They are as follows: Arthur Golding,\u00a0The XV Bookes of P. Ovidius Naso, entytuled Metamorphosis, translated oute of Latin into English meeter, by Arthur Golding Gentleman, A [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1005,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[419],"tags":[35195,35196,27180,13256,4649,530],"class_list":["post-128876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts-culture","tag-arthur-golding","tag-george-sandys","tag-john-dryden","tag-metamorphoses","tag-ovid","tag-translation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.4 (Yoast SEO v25.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>An Ovidian Taste Test: The Old Verse Translations of Ovid\u2019s &#039;Metamorphoses&#039; by Anthony Madrid<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"They might seem the same to you, even if you concentrate. 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