I did not want to give up on one of the world's greatest myths without trying. However, I started 'The Evening Star' from the 'concord of sweet sound,' with the rather grandiose idea that transposing the 'music' will keep me close to the content. Luceafarul's vocabulary is simple without being simplistic. The words are rarely sophisticated and it is indeed the coincidence of familiar, almost commonplace, locutions and the unexpected depth of meaning that is uncanny. This deceiving simplicity is used to create archetypal imagery that evokes depth and universality of feeling rather than some unique or exotic emotion. Can simple words be combined in English with similar musical effect without sounding simplistic? 

Most translations seemed resigned before the musical potential, different in the two languages. Simplified, the case could be stated as follows: English is a language with mono- or bi-syllabic words and 'closed' vowels while Romanian has plurisyllabic words and open-vowels; English poetry strives toward efficiency, actively avoiding superfluous syllables (like the definite articles) while in Romanian the unavoidable flexionary forms are used purposely as musical material. 

Translations of Eminescu have generally imitated 18-th and 19-th century English poetry. Moreover, the tenet seems to have been that good translations avoid common words. To give Eminescu imposing stature, he was presented in the traditional attire of royal British poets while what is majestic about him comes from depth of content in simple clothes. The result was highly sophisticated language and syntax in the style of Byron or even Shakespeare while the sound was abandoned from the start, as a given. 

My translation did not attempt to modernize either vocabulary or grammar. Some formulations may sound contemporary but this is also the case in Romanian! Other locutions are 19-th century but neither vocabulary or syntax is archaic. I intentionally avoided forms like 'doeth', 'thou', 'did speak', 'thy', etc. While such conventions characterize Romantic English poets they would not be useful to suggest Eminescu's much more simple vocabulary. 

While traditional renditions from Eminescu have leaned toward archaization, the current literary criticism in the US strongly favors modernization of any translation language. To be effective for today's readership (the argument goes) language needs to match the spontaneous emotional outbursts of contemporary English. Meter and rhyme are deemed conventional and formulations of olden times would fall on emotionally deaf ears. 

Poetry itself, with some exceptions, reflects the above. Lyrical pleasure is expected more from surprise of information than from harmony of matching sounds. Like many things in this century, poetry has moved, pragmatically, towards efficiency. This is understandable. After so many years of 'matching,' most rhyming combinations, now tabulated in dictionaries, have been used up. Moreover, in a pervasive mass media culture, both journalism and commercials have fostered their clicheization, simply accelerating a natural process of inflation. However, while the accepted format is a freer verse, a faulty assumption grows that 'obsolete' rhyme-and-rhythm is fit only for facile content. 

The present translation followed neither of the two directions mentioned. My intention was from the start to give English speakers a sense of Eminescu's unique sound and style rather than fit him into expectations. Paradoxically, this approach allowed me to be truer to the content. To me, Eminescu is akin to the music of Mozart or Vivaldi: the sound combinations seem simple and predictable but the cumulative effect has serenity and a soothing depth that cannot be explained through its components. The sum is bigger than its parts. The harmonies, commonplace from contemporary perspective, do not make the music any less enjoyable. 

In a way, Eminescu's music had to be reinvented in English. But no more than, say, any transposition of a Bach cello suite for guitar has to explore sonorities not customarily used by the instrument. The above is meant as an invitation to listen to the sound of Eminescu in English beyond hearing content. Read it aloud!

Adrian George Sahlean

N-am putut sa renunt la unul din marile mituri ale lumii fara macar sa incerc. Am inceput insa traducerea Luceafarului de la 'armonia dulcilor sunete', cu idea destul de grandioasa ca transpunerea muzicii imi va facilita fidelitatea fata de continut. Vocabularul original al 'Luceafarului' este simplu fara a fi simplist. Cuvintele surprind rareori prin sofisticarie dar tocmai coincidenta locutiunilor familiare, aproape banale, cu neasteptata adancime de inteles este turburatoare. Aparenta lor simplitate creaza imagini arhetipale ce evoca universalitatea si adancimea sentimentului si nu o anume experienta emotionala unica sau exotica. E oare posibil sa combini cuvinte simple in engleza, cu acelasi efect muzical, fara a deveni simplist? 

Traducerile cunoscute mie din Eminescu par a fi resemnate in fata diferentei de potential muzical dintre cele doua limbi. Situatia ar putea fi privita, simplificat, in felul urmator: in timp ce vocalele englezesti au caracter inchis iar cuvintele sunt in general mono- sau bisilabice, romana are vocale deschise si cuvinte plurisilabice; poezia engleza tinde catre eficienta, eliminand activ silabele 'superflue' de tipul articolelor hotarate, in timp ce in romana ele sunt constitutive formelor flexionare si folosite intentionat ca material muzical. 

Traducerile din Eminescu au evoluat in general catre un stil de imitatie a poeziei britanice din secolele XVIII si XIX. In plus, pare sa fi existat si convingerea ca traducerile bune evita cuvintele obisnuite. Pentru a-l face impunator, Eminescu a fost prezentat in vesmantul traditional al regalitatii poeziei britanice cand de fapt maretia lui provine din adancimea unui continut exprimat in haine simple. S-a ajuns astfel la vocabular pretios si sintaxa de tip Byron sau chiar Shakespeare iar muzica a fost abandonata din plecare, ca de la sine inteles. 

Nu am incercat sa modernizez nici limba si nici gramatica lui Eminescu in traducerea de fata. Anumite formulari par contemporane dar acesta e cazul poetului si in romana! Alte fomulari suna a secolul XIX dar atat cuvintele cat si sintaxa nu sunt arhaice. Am evitat cu buna stiinta forme de tipul 'doeth', 'thou', 'did speak', 'thy', etc., conventii stilistice intalnite la romanticii engleji dar nepotrivite pentru a sugera vocabularul lui Eminescu, mult mai firesc. 

In opozitie cu talmacirile arhaizante, in Statele Unite critica literara sustine cu tarie modernizarea traducerilor. Ca sa fie 'eficace', se argumenteaza, limbajul trebuie sa urmeze izbucnirile afective spontane ale limbii cititorului de azi. Rima si ritmul sunt conventionale si fomularile altor timpuri ar fi primite cu indiferenta. 

De fapt, poezia contemporana, cu exceptii, reflecta situatia de mai sus. Satisfactia lirica e cautata mai mult in surpriza informatiei decat in armonia sunetelor potrivite. Ca multe altele in acest secol, poezia s-a deplasat, pragmatic, catre eficienta. Atitudinea nu este de neinteles. Majoritatea combinatiilor de rima, azi tabulate in dictionare, s-au 'epuizat' dupa atata amar de ani de imperecheri. In plus, in cultura invadatoare de mass media, atat ziaristica cat si reclama comerciala au intensificat cliseizarea rimelor, accelerand un proces firesc de inflatie. Dar, in timp ce forma poetica la moda urmeaza un vers mai liber, se intareste perceptia falsa ca rima si ritmul, desuete, sunt bune doar pentru continut facil. 

Traducerea de fata nu urmeaza nici una dintre abordarile mentionate. Intentia mea a fost dintru inceput de a sugera in engleza specificitatea de stil si sonoritate a lui Eminescu, nu de a-l forta in tiparul asteptarilor. In mod paradoxal, aceasta abordare a facilitat fidelitatea fata de continutul poemului. Eminescu pentru mine se aseamana muzicii lui Mozart sau Vivaldi: combinatiile sunt aparent simple si previzibile dar efectul cumulativ are seninatate si o linistitoare adancime ce nu se explica prin examinarea separata a componentelor. Totalul e mai mare decat suma partilor sale iar armoniile, 'banale' din perspectiva moderna, nu diminueaza intru nimic placerea auditiei. 

Intr-un anume sens, muzica lui Eminescu a trebuit reinventata in engleza. Nu mai mult insa decat transpunerea unei suite de violoncel de Bach pentru chitara exploreaza combinatii sonore poate mai putin uzuale instrumentului. Randurile de mai sus sunt deci o invitatie de a-l 'asculta' pe Eminescu in engleza dincolo de echivalentele de sens. Cititi-l cu voce tare! 

Adrian George Sahlean