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Article: Slop and gossip.(Greek Lyric Poetry: A New Translation)(The First Poets: Lives of the Ancient Greek Poets)(Book Review)
- Article from:
- Poetry
- Article date:
- October 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Modern Poetry Association. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Greek Lyric Poetry: A New Translation, tr. by Sherod Santos. W.W. Norton. $24.95.
The First Poets: Lives of the Ancient Greek Poets, by Michael Schmidt. Alfred A. Knopf. $30.00.
English literature lives on translation, it is fed by translations, every new exuberance, every new heave is stimulated by translations, every allegedly great age is an age of translations, beginning with Geoffrey Chaucer. --Ezra Pound
Is ours a great age by Pound's test? Not in the sense that he gave to the Renaissance or the Enlightenment in England. He could not claim the great effects he ascribes to translation in general. Translation in those ages had the focus ...