Why is Szymborska's "Tarsier" sometimes written (in translation) with simplistic grammar?

Question

Szymborska's poem "Tarsier" ("Tarsjusz" in the original Polish) has been translated, in a version that says "Translations and Comments by Magnus J. Krynski and Robert A. Maguire", as follows:

I tarsier, son of tarsier,
grandson of tarsier and great-grandson,
[...]
I tarsier,
know how important it is to be tarsier.

Another English translation (I don't know who was the translator here) uses less idiosyncratic grammar:

I am a tarsier and a tarsier's son,
the grandson and great-grandson of tarsiers,
[...]
I, a tarsier,
know well how essential it is to be a tarsier.

Which of these translations better captures the style of the original Polish poem? Did Szymborska write in an "I tarsier" style of grammar, perhaps indicating a simple childish creature, or in fully correct grammatical sentences?

It should be noted that Polish, like many/all Slavic languages, has no articles, no equivalent words for "a" and "the". When translating from Polish to English, the choice of where to put articles may sometimes be a stylistic one. But is it the translators putting their own style into "I tarsier", or trying to capture Szymborska's original style?

Answer 1

I think the first translation you mention is more accurate. Still, omitting comma in first line and adding in last would be more accurate, and here is why:

In original it's

Ja tarsjusz syn tarsjusza,
wnuk tarsjusza i prawnuk,
[...]
Ja tarsjusz
wiem, jak bardzo trzeba być tarsjuszem.

In the first row it's not "Ja jestem tarsjusz", or "Ja jestem tarsjuszem", "Jestem tarsjusz", ''Jestem tarsjuszem'' - while "Ja" (I) can be omitted, omitting "jestem" (am) would normally go with comma (Ja, tarsjusz = I, tarsier). So, it's rather a matter of punctuation then grammar. Why is it like that? I don't think it's conveying any childishness, rather it makes the line a sort of "not a list". Together with second line it conveys certain... timelessness, or universality, which should also be translated. That's why there should be no articles in translation - it's not about a tarsier, or the tarsier - not any particular, like here. It also preserves highly condensed from of these lines.