I have chosen to examine lines 43-46 of "My Last Duchess"
True text:
…Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt,
Whene’er I passed her; but who passed without
Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands
Then all smiles stopped all together…
In prose:
…oh sir, she smiled all of the time
Whenever I passed her she smiled, but many passed her
And received the same smile. This became frequent. I ordered it
And all of her smiles stopped all together…
Translating a poem in prose can be difficult, but it is necessary to truly appreciate the beauty of true poetic form. In Browning’s poem “My Last Duchess” his use of form is exquisite. The entire poem is comprised of rhyming heroic couplets and it is in iambic pentameter. When reading the true text of the poem there is passion and feeling behind it. You can tell that Browning was trying to convey, subtlety of course, the fact that that Duke was a jealous creature and had his wife killed because of her flirtatiousness. This is the art of poetry; the play with words and the clever use of grammar and the ability to convey strong emotions and situations with the fewest words as possible. While reading the prose, the same basic idea is achieved, however, the eloquence and true art of the poem is, quite literally, lost in translation. Writing in prose is a great tool to better understand what the poet is trying to say, but it is in no way as expressive and articulate as the true text of a poem.
2 comments:
Yes, I agree that it is clear that the Duke was jealous and wanted his wife to give her attention only to him. In some ways though, I also think he was embarrassed of her... she was too simple, too naive, too dumb for his pride level. I think that in part he was jealous that she flirted with others, but also he had a lot of contempt for the fact that she was too stupid to see how important he was, he wasn't special in her eyes and he felt that he deserved better.
I agree with you on how Browning reveals the horrifying story of the murder of the duke's previous wife through the duke's conversation with the agent. Also the conversation gets interesting when the duke loses control. For example, when he says:
“This grew; I gave commands;
Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands
As if alive. Will't please you rise? We'll meet
the company below, then.”
He loses control and he notices he told the truth to the agent and he sees that the agent wants to go down stairs so he says “we’ll meet the company below, then.”
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