Translating Poetry

Translating a poem resembles reading a poem. When we read a poem,

we enter the poet's world like diving under the sea to observe the submarine

species swimming in the depths. When we translate a poem, we forage

the different levels of connotative meaning that make up the poem.

The problem is to be able to unite these diverse connotations into

a harmonious metaphorical whole without disrupting the original

meaning of the poet. That is a hard task because, as translators,

we have to find the right words that c a r r y and c o n v e y

the right meaning that was lurking behind the poet's compositiion.