Oh my goodness, I love Clare Cavanagh! I didn’t know who she was previously, but “The Art of Losing” is the first scholarly reading this semester that made me tear up. How beautiful those final two paragraphs are! Her notion of translation as a wonderful impossibility, in the same way that poetry is, and in the same way that really everything worthwhile is, strikes me as satisfying and true.
Cavanagh’s firing on all cylinders in this article; her translations, criticism, and anecdotes all work for me. The “Birthday” translation is especially resplendent. Its sonic elements rock, and it’s a great example of the form/sound of a poem being more important than the words’ literal meanings. I’d love to see Cavanagh and Nabokov have a little debate. There’s a lot to be learned from both of them, despite the seeming diametrical opposition. That’s been a fun element of the readings this semester—how we can glean the resonant bits from the sundry perspectives.
It was also fun to see a translation by Boston University’s own Robert Pinsky! He’s mentioned working with Czeslaw Milosz in class before and remembers the experience very fondly. I enjoy “Song on Porcelain” quite a bit. Thanks!
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