Is there is any professional English translation of "I will not see the famous Phaedra" (Я не увижу знаменитой «Федры») by Osip Mandelstam. Can anyone provide a link where it can be found.
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What do you mean by "professional English translation"?– Peter ShorOct 20, 2020 at 0:36
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2I mean by human. It is easy to get it by google translate, but I do not like the quality, even though English is not my native.– mkatkovOct 20, 2020 at 0:37
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1There is a translation here that looks okay to me (let me note that human translations aren't a good guarantee of quality; some human translations of French poetry you find on the internet are absolutely terrible). However, since I don't read any Russian, I can't judge it myself.– Peter ShorOct 20, 2020 at 0:41
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Put it as answer I will accept it. It is better than Google translate. I feel this particular poem is difficult to translate. Do you feel "And the diction, inflamed by indignation, Strikes a mournful temper" is the normal English or it would be hard to remember. In Russian its equivalent is hard to remember.– mkatkovOct 20, 2020 at 1:02
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It's not everyday English ... I would say it's poetic language.– Peter ShorOct 20, 2020 at 1:27
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1 Answer
There is a translation here, in the book Mandelstam, Blok, and the boundaries of mythopoetic symbolism by Stuart Goldberg, that looks okay to me (although I can't say for sure, since I don't read Russian). It starts:
I will not see the celebrated Phèdre
In a venerable, many-tiered theater,
From the high, soot-smoked gallery,
By the light of guttering candles.
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1Congrats on 5k reputation and the final beta-site privilege level :-)– Rand al'Thor ♦Oct 20, 2020 at 11:27