Thread: Does translation spoils the poetry? Look at this poem.

When I was a kid I loved this poem by R. Frost (in Russian translation, of course). Today I've read it in English and I'm shocked!! It differs so much.

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Прервал я санок легкий бег
Перевод С.Я. Маршака.

Прервал я санок легкий бег,
Любуясь, как ложится снег
На тихий лес, и как далек
Владеющий им человек.

Мой удивляется конек:
Где увидал я огонек,
Зовущий гостя в теплый дом
В декабрьский темный вечерок.

Позвякивает бубенцом,
Переминаясь надо льдом.
И наста слышен легкий хруст,
Припорошенного снежком.

А лес манит - глубок и пуст.
Но словом данным я влеком.
Мне еще ехать далеко,
Мне еще ехать далеко.

Now I can imagine what happens with russian poetry translated in English.

It depends. You have two kinds of translation: literal and poetic.

To make it rhyme and stuff obviously they have to change words and parts. A literal translation however doesn't care about rhyme or how the poem is structured, it just translates it keeping it exactly how it is written.

Originally Posted by TATY

It depends. You have two kinds of translation: literal and poetic.

To make it rhyme and stuff obviously they have to change words and parts. A literal translation however doesn't care about rhyme or how the poem is structured, it just translates it keeping it exactly how it is written.

Well, yeah, but it looks like Marshak wrote his own poem based on Frost's idea. He saved the air but dropped a lot of significant details and the poem seems great untill you read the original text.
Sure translation should be poetic but not SO poetic, what do you think? I like "Буратино", but nobody thinks of it as a translation of "Pinocchio".

Перевод мне кажется адекватным. Маршак проанализировал оригинал и передал всё, что там было, но - в другой форме. Другой вопрос насколько хорошо он передал экстралингвистические реалии.