An agreeable poem. Thx for sharing this. "Cast among the ever blind..." Seeing quite clearly where it all leads can make it hard to join in the revelries. Her special sight was an especial curse. When the trappings don't hide the essence, one is fully disconnected from the general outlook and experience. The most discerning can only lament the spectacle--and pointlessly warn. The occasional "Schopenhauerian poet" could certainly feel helpless to help--& condemned to see what no one else does. Too bad fact is everywhere, and not just an apparition. I'd guess Cassandra was a stand-in for Schiller. Do they call him a "pessimist" too? The blind will always label with loaded terms. They've certainly stocked Ai with a full supply of them. Again, most agreeable. And thx again for sharing.
The interesting thing about this ballad (at least for me) is that Cassandra’s lot still seems more noble and preferable to the blissful ignorance of the revellers.
I can much more easily empathize with Cassandra than the revellers haha.
Regardless, there is some beautiful pathos in this ballad.
Each time I translate a new Schiller piece, I feel like I’m discovering another lost relic.
Me, I thought it was allegorically biographic and maybe also autobiographic. Perceptive thinkers do tend to get mocked by less "clear mind{s}." Maybe that's why he opted for allegory. Cassandra could be a defensive move to shield the real speaker from ridicule. I also like his association of the type he's describing with "a pure heart." Ethical realists, like Al Ma'arri for example, or Schopenhauer; or like George Santayana, who testified to "the great disaster of birth"--are fundamentally motivated by compassion, a wish to eliminate misery and its causes. They apprehend the reality behind the appearance and know the reality is intent on massacre and that none will be spared. Every reveler must experience the rack. So-called "pessimists, fatalists, nihilists" and the like would defend others from torments and put life back in Pandora's box--and quadruple padlock it shut. A quite worthy objective, aimed at preventing all further ambush. But they're all just whistling in the wind, ca va sans dire.
Schiller was definitely an optimist in his philosophical outlook, but I don't you're wrong in that there is some autobiographic element. After all, few have taken Schiller's ideas seriously, despite being very compelling and him being a poet of the highest order in his own right. He had an early education in a military academy. He ran away. Wrote his first and most popular drama, The Robbers, which became a sensation across Europe.
PS.
I just added a video production of the work, which I think works nicely. I figured a timeless poem like this merited its own production, with thunder, lightening, all those fun things.
Verse V line 3: Wouldn't 'Fires leap up towards the Heavens' work better? I must say your scansion really has improved! Now you need to work on surprising aptness. I mean at the level of the individual word.
Fair enough. I mean, truth be told, translations like this can be worked on for a very long time. I am working towards a collection of Schiller translations, half essays/half translation. At that point I'll be able to go over things and make some final touches.
That being said, if compared with all the existing translations of Schiller's poems, including this one, I think all my translations are a step above everything currently available. Usually, if I find a translation of a particular Schiller poem I'm interested in, and I think they've pretty much done a bang on job, I usually just choose another poem to translate.
The goal is not just translations, but works that can stand on their on feet as authentic English poems.
There isn't any reliable or satisfactory modern collection of Schiller's poem, so it will be a milestone when that drops, hopefully before the year's end. By then, I'll have had time to make sure each translation is as perfect as it can be.
You might consider "temples wreathed in laurel." I think 'in' might be more euphonious and perhaps clearer usage than 'by.' That's just how it seems to my ear.
“Polyxena appears so blest
In her drunk, delusioned breast...
Here I think deluded might be more felicitous diction than delusional.
You might consider in place of 'drunk,' 'drunked' or 'besotted.'
As I mention in the comment below, I'm working towards a new book of Schiller translations. Once I have the time, I'll be going over everything one last time to ensure each translation is as good as possible.
An agreeable poem. Thx for sharing this. "Cast among the ever blind..." Seeing quite clearly where it all leads can make it hard to join in the revelries. Her special sight was an especial curse. When the trappings don't hide the essence, one is fully disconnected from the general outlook and experience. The most discerning can only lament the spectacle--and pointlessly warn. The occasional "Schopenhauerian poet" could certainly feel helpless to help--& condemned to see what no one else does. Too bad fact is everywhere, and not just an apparition. I'd guess Cassandra was a stand-in for Schiller. Do they call him a "pessimist" too? The blind will always label with loaded terms. They've certainly stocked Ai with a full supply of them. Again, most agreeable. And thx again for sharing.
The interesting thing about this ballad (at least for me) is that Cassandra’s lot still seems more noble and preferable to the blissful ignorance of the revellers.
I can much more easily empathize with Cassandra than the revellers haha.
Regardless, there is some beautiful pathos in this ballad.
Each time I translate a new Schiller piece, I feel like I’m discovering another lost relic.
Me, I thought it was allegorically biographic and maybe also autobiographic. Perceptive thinkers do tend to get mocked by less "clear mind{s}." Maybe that's why he opted for allegory. Cassandra could be a defensive move to shield the real speaker from ridicule. I also like his association of the type he's describing with "a pure heart." Ethical realists, like Al Ma'arri for example, or Schopenhauer; or like George Santayana, who testified to "the great disaster of birth"--are fundamentally motivated by compassion, a wish to eliminate misery and its causes. They apprehend the reality behind the appearance and know the reality is intent on massacre and that none will be spared. Every reveler must experience the rack. So-called "pessimists, fatalists, nihilists" and the like would defend others from torments and put life back in Pandora's box--and quadruple padlock it shut. A quite worthy objective, aimed at preventing all further ambush. But they're all just whistling in the wind, ca va sans dire.
Schiller was definitely an optimist in his philosophical outlook, but I don't you're wrong in that there is some autobiographic element. After all, few have taken Schiller's ideas seriously, despite being very compelling and him being a poet of the highest order in his own right. He had an early education in a military academy. He ran away. Wrote his first and most popular drama, The Robbers, which became a sensation across Europe.
PS.
I just added a video production of the work, which I think works nicely. I figured a timeless poem like this merited its own production, with thunder, lightening, all those fun things.
Verse V line 3: Wouldn't 'Fires leap up towards the Heavens' work better? I must say your scansion really has improved! Now you need to work on surprising aptness. I mean at the level of the individual word.
Fair enough. I mean, truth be told, translations like this can be worked on for a very long time. I am working towards a collection of Schiller translations, half essays/half translation. At that point I'll be able to go over things and make some final touches.
That being said, if compared with all the existing translations of Schiller's poems, including this one, I think all my translations are a step above everything currently available. Usually, if I find a translation of a particular Schiller poem I'm interested in, and I think they've pretty much done a bang on job, I usually just choose another poem to translate.
The goal is not just translations, but works that can stand on their on feet as authentic English poems.
There isn't any reliable or satisfactory modern collection of Schiller's poem, so it will be a milestone when that drops, hopefully before the year's end. By then, I'll have had time to make sure each translation is as perfect as it can be.
Verse VII struck a real chord with me.
You might consider "temples wreathed in laurel." I think 'in' might be more euphonious and perhaps clearer usage than 'by.' That's just how it seems to my ear.
“Polyxena appears so blest
In her drunk, delusioned breast...
Here I think deluded might be more felicitous diction than delusional.
You might consider in place of 'drunk,' 'drunked' or 'besotted.'
"Besotted" and "Deluded" are nice touches.
As I mention in the comment below, I'm working towards a new book of Schiller translations. Once I have the time, I'll be going over everything one last time to ensure each translation is as good as possible.
Will keep the suggestions in mind.
Kudos!
Besotted would still work metrically.
Drunken not drunked.
.