Experimental Writing

I. Homophonic Translation:

 

Original Poem:

Fletus Passeris Lesbiae (Part I)

Passer, deliciae meae puellae,
quicum ludere, quem in sinu tenere,
cui primum digitum dare appetenti
et acris solet incitare morsus,
cum desiderio meo nitenti
carum nescio quid lubet iocari
et solaciolum sui doloris,
credo ut tum grauis acquiescat ardor:
tecum ludere sicut ipsa possem
et tristis animi leuare curas!
 

 

Homophonic Translation:

Fillet us, Pass her, ease Let’s behind (Part I)

Pass her, then lick the eye, may I poo? well I

Quick, come loot. Hurray! Women since new ten array,

Coup we pre Mum, dig, eat ‘um, hurry up, pat ten tee

At a crease soul let in guitar remorse us,

Whom day scenario, mayo, knit ten tee

Car rum ness key oh quid lube bet evoke Ari

At so, lock keyhole, um sue me, dull lure ease

Cred owe what tomb grr ahh ooh ease awk we asked at are door

Take whom loot array, see cut hipsta possum

Actress ease on, knee me, legume array cure us!

 

 

Original Translation:

The Tears of Lesbia's Sparrow
Sparrow, my girlfriend's pet,
with whom she is accustomed to play,
whom she is accustomed to hold on her lap,
to whom, attacking, she is accustomed to give her fingertip
and to provoke a sharp bite,
with my desire shining she is accustomed to make a dear joke
and a little solace of her own sadness,
I believe that then her heavy passion subsides:
I wish I could play with you just as she does
and lighten the sad cares of my heart!

 

 

Commentary:

            In this Homophonic Translation, I translate the ancient Latin poem “Flettus Passeris Lesbiae” by Catullus into English based on the way each Latin word sounds.  Completing this exercise was a difficult process for me.  Many Latin words possess sound and letter combinations that are not frequently used in English.  For example, the ending “io” in Latin does not sound like “eye-oh” as it often does in English words like “bio,” nor like “ee-uh” as it does in English words like “idiom.”  Rather, in Latin, this ending sounds like “ee-oh.”  Other words and letter pairings were also very difficult to find exact matches for in the English language, including “cui” (sounding like koo-ee) and “cum,” which sometimes sounds like “koom” as in the word “kumbaya.”

            I solved this problem by translating many of the sounds less “literally.”  If I could not find a close English match for a Latin word that flowed in the context of the piece, I chose an English word that sounded very similar and possessed the same root sounds.  In some instances, I also combined the endings of a Latin word with the beginning of the next word.  When the Latin poem is read aloud by a native or fluent speaker, the words seem to blend together in this manner, and combining the ending and beginning sounds of words mimicked this affect.  For example, the words “incitare morsus,” which sounds like “in-kit-are-ray morse us,” became “in guitar remorse us.”  I feel that incorporating common English words like “guitar,” as well as “hurray” and “scenario” makes the piece a bit more relatable and enjoyable for the reader.  In addition, juxtaposing less frequently used words like “legume” and “hipsta” with illogical sounds such as “grr” gives the piece a unique flair and creates an upbeat rhythm.  At the same time, I feel

 

 

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II: Telephone:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Commentary:

            I used the “Telephone” Engine for this piece.  I chose to post the individual links for each individual translation, as many of the characters from different languages could not successfully be copied over to PDF.  For the first and final translations, I used the same starting quote from W.H. Auden: “A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language.”  Repeating the same line allowed me to exemplify some of the characteristics of the engine itself; even though I start with the same phrase, the final product is different based on the random languages and ordering that this quote is translated into.

            For the fourteen other phrases in the body of the piece, I selected sayings that I felt reflect aspects of American culture.  I use famous song lyrics, patriotic quotes, common phrases, and even sayings from one of America’s favorite past-times: baseball.  I try to convey how these distinctly American phrases are often hard to translate into different languages, and acquire entirely different meanings when they are re-translated into English.  I also experimented on my own by running the end product of my initial phrase back through the engine, and repeating the process.  However, I feel that the piece I included yielded far more interesting results.

 

 

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III: Dialect Translation

 

 

How do I love thee? (Sonnet 43)

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

 

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of being and ideal grace

I love thee to the level of every day's

Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

I love thee freely, as men strive for right.

I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.

I love thee with the passion put to use

In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,

Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death.

 

 

 

D0 ! <3 U? (s0nN3+ 43)

Dialect Translation (Instant Messenger)

 

D0 ! <3 U? 0bv.  Bcuz @l0+ 0f +h!ng$:

! <3 u 2 3v3ry $p@c3

Mi $p!r!+ g03z, 3v3n \/\/h3/\/ ! r3@ch 2 !nv!z!bl3 $P0+z

4 d@ 3dg3 0f mi <3

! <3 U l0+z @ 3rRd@y’z

n0r/\/\@l p@R+z, /\/!g |-| +  & d@iii

! <3 U cUz ! \/\/@nN@, l!k3 b0iz \/\/@nN@ d0 g0oD +h1nGzZ.

! <3 U +rUlyy, l!k3 b0iz d@+ !g/\/0r3 $uCkUpZz

! <3 U w/ f!r3 dat =

mi :( & >:-0  fR0/\/\ wH3/\/ ! w@z l!l, & w/ mi 0ld 3n3rGi.

! <3 U w/ a <3 ! +h0uG|-|+  !  l0$+

w/ bR!+n3Y $p3@rz & $@n+@. ! <3 U w/ mi br3@+|-|,

:)’s, :’-(‘s , & 1fY3; & if G0d p!cKz m3,

!ll <3 U ^^^ wH3n ! d!3.

 

 

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IV: Dialect Engine

 

English:

The Gift Outright by Robert Frost

The land was ours before we were the land’s.

She was our land more than a hundred years

Before we were her people. She was ours

In Massachusetts, in Virginia,

But we were England’s, still colonials,

Possessing what we still were unpossessed by,

Possessed by what we now no more possessed.

Something we were withholding made us weak

Until we found out that it was ourselves

We were withholding from our land of living,

And forthwith found salvation in surrender.

Such as we were we gave ourselves outright

(The deed of gift was many deeds of war)

To the land vaguely realizing westward,

But still unstoried, artless, unenhanced,

Such as she was, such as she would become.

 

 

Moron:

De Giff Outrite by Robeht Frost

De land was ours bef'e webuh webuhre de land’s.

She was our land more dan a hundrid years

Bef'e webuh webuhre heh peoble. She was ours

In Massachusetts, duuhhhh, in Birginia,

But webuh webuhre England’s, duuhhhh, still colonials, duuhhhh,

Possessigg what webuh still webuhre unpossessid by,

Possessid by what webuh now no more possessed.

Somedigg webuh webuhre widholdigg made us webuhak

Until webuh found out dat it was ourselbes

Webuh webuhre widholdigg from our land of libigg,

And f'dwid found salbashun in surrendeh.

Such as webuh webuhre webuh gabe ourselbes outrite

(De deid of giff was many deeds of war)

T' de land bague realizigg webuhsterd,

But still unstoried, uh uh uh uh, artless, duuhhhh, unenhassd, uh uh uh uh,

Such as she was, duuhhhh, such as she wudd become.

 

 

Swedish Chef:

Zee Geefft Ooootreeght by Rubert Frust

Zee lund ves oooors beffure-a ve-a vere-a zee lund’s. Um gesh dee bork, bork!

She-a ves oooor lund mure-a thun a hoondred yeers

Beffure-a ve-a vere-a her peuple-a. She-a ves oooors

In Messechoosetts, in Furgeenia,

Boot ve-a vere-a Inglund’s, steell culuneeels,

Pussesseeng vhet ve-a steell vere-a unpussessed by,

Pussessed by vhet ve-a noo nu mure-a pussessed. Bork bork bork!

Sumetheeng ve-a vere-a veethhulding mede-a us veek

Unteel ve-a fuoond oooot thet it ves oooorselfes

Ve-a vere-a veethhulding frum oooor lund ooff leefing,

Und furthveet fuoond selfeshun in soorrender. Hurty flurty schnipp schnipp!

Sooch es ve-a vere-a ve-a gefe-a oooorselfes ooootreeght

(Zee deed ooff geefft ves muny deeds ooff ver)

Tu zee lund fegooely reeleezing vestverd,

Boot steell unstureeed, ertless, unenhunced,

Sooch es she-a ves, sooch es she-a vuoold becume-a.

 

 

Elmer Fudd:

De Gift Outwight by Wobewt Fwost

De wand was ouws befowe we wewe the wand’s. Oh, dat scwewy wabbit!

She was ouw wand mowe than a hundwed yeaws

Befowe we wewe hew peopwe. She was ouws

In Massachusetts, in Viwginia,

But we wewe Engwand’s, stiww cowoniaws,

Possessing what we stiww wewe unpossessed by,

Possessed by what we now no mowe possessed.

Something we wewe withhowding made us weak

Untiw we found out that it was ouwsewves

We wewe withhowding fwom ouw wand of wiving,

And fowthwif found sawvation in suwwendew.

Such as we wewe we gave ouwsewves outwight

(De deed of gift was many deeds of waw)

To the wand vaguewy weawizing westwawd,

But stiww unstowied, awtwess, unenhanced,

Such as she was, such as she wouwd become.

 

 

Commentary:

            I feel that these two final pieces are pretty self-explanatory, and will thus keep my commentary short.  However, I will mention that my Dialect Translation piece was especially time-consuming.  This is a bit ironic, since I tend to use abbreviations on the Internet quite frequently in my personal life in an effort to spare time and type quickly.  When I exaggerated my use of these abbreviations and special characters, however, I ended up spending even more of my time thinking about how I would transcribe each letter, rather than what specific words I would use to translate.  My second piece was far less time consuming, since the translation engine did most of the work for me.  Again, in picking my initial poem to translate, I tried to choose a poem that seemed somewhat distinctly American to me, so I could see how translating it into different dialects impacted its cultural connotations.  I thus selected The Gift Outright, since Robert Frost read this poem at John F. Kennedy’s inauguration.