I am offended that a Silicon Valley zillionaire can essentially buy "easy" Shakespeare especially at the cost of theatrical excellence. OSF has made some other questionable decisions in recent years--their plays just aren't as well done as they used to be. It's mostly not the actors, but the direction and staging choices. I hope they can reverse their decline.
People? You *do* understand they are not taking away the originals, right? It's just a literary exercise.
It's not like they remade "Ghostbusters" with girls or anything. ...
It's not like they remade "Ghostbusters" with girls or anything. ...
Coach Hank V
Hit 'em again, hit 'em again, harder, harder!
Put 8 in the box and jamb up line.
After the game make nice and humble.
But now pads on and MAN UP! Git Some!
Game face, and MEAN it. No Mercy. This is our house.
No tomorrow. Leave it all on the field. We only got us.
Hit 'em like a cannon. (But no shots to the head. 15 yards.)
Rip out their ball. Don't just pick 1, pick 6!
Take out their ankles out and the rest WILL follow. Make sure they are down. Play through the whistle.
Just win, baby.
Now, everybody take a knee.
Dear Lord, help us smash them to Thy Glory. Amen.
Now let's go kill 'em!!!
{All exeunt through door stage left, shouting}
Hit 'em again, hit 'em again, harder, harder!
Put 8 in the box and jamb up line.
After the game make nice and humble.
But now pads on and MAN UP! Git Some!
Game face, and MEAN it. No Mercy. This is our house.
No tomorrow. Leave it all on the field. We only got us.
Hit 'em like a cannon. (But no shots to the head. 15 yards.)
Rip out their ball. Don't just pick 1, pick 6!
Take out their ankles out and the rest WILL follow. Make sure they are down. Play through the whistle.
Just win, baby.
Now, everybody take a knee.
Dear Lord, help us smash them to Thy Glory. Amen.
Now let's go kill 'em!!!
{All exeunt through door stage left, shouting}
1
Yo!
Dare we to change the wordings of the Bard
To those of our contemporary age
Because now audiences find it hard
When reading to get past the op'ning page,
Or when upon this stage the Words be spoke
Doth artful styling tie them in a knot?
To modernize, would that not be a joke,
Or this the key: that Juliet be hot?
The actor doth give us the poet's line,
Creation came and yet again may come,
Be it most foul or fair, indeed divine.
'Though some attempts be poor or simply dumb.
Ariont Thee Critics, foss'lized brains of rust.
Yea, verily, thou doth protest too much.
Dare we to change the wordings of the Bard
To those of our contemporary age
Because now audiences find it hard
When reading to get past the op'ning page,
Or when upon this stage the Words be spoke
Doth artful styling tie them in a knot?
To modernize, would that not be a joke,
Or this the key: that Juliet be hot?
The actor doth give us the poet's line,
Creation came and yet again may come,
Be it most foul or fair, indeed divine.
'Though some attempts be poor or simply dumb.
Ariont Thee Critics, foss'lized brains of rust.
Yea, verily, thou doth protest too much.
1
I've just discovered that a company in Logan, Iowa, has been publishing "translations" of nine of Shakespeare's plays since the mid-1980's.
Unfortunately HENRY V is not one of them, otherwise I'd share their version of the "breach" speech with you....
But the author of the introduction to their version of ROMEO AND JULIET was from the Folger Shakespeare Library, perhaps giving it some credibility....
Unfortunately HENRY V is not one of them, otherwise I'd share their version of the "breach" speech with you....
But the author of the introduction to their version of ROMEO AND JULIET was from the Folger Shakespeare Library, perhaps giving it some credibility....
My worthy sons of England, let fly, once more;
If not lay corps-ed brick and mortar limb by limb our very blood to seal.
In times of peace we best look within and gather conscience toward domestic inequity great and small.
But as brothers we stand as one true blade when bade to test our mettle
in defense of all in peace we ratify, call devils from elemental source.
The selfsame spirit lives in silence, watchful waiting to rise'n the gullet;
and keen the cry of War and Desolation.
Lend the profile the sheen of armor.
Let the confused nay o'erwhelmed visage of compromise give way to dire foul and murderous instinct.
For, the nobility of war hangs highest, when there is not but to do, to act, and to spark the baser fang.
If not lay corps-ed brick and mortar limb by limb our very blood to seal.
In times of peace we best look within and gather conscience toward domestic inequity great and small.
But as brothers we stand as one true blade when bade to test our mettle
in defense of all in peace we ratify, call devils from elemental source.
The selfsame spirit lives in silence, watchful waiting to rise'n the gullet;
and keen the cry of War and Desolation.
Lend the profile the sheen of armor.
Let the confused nay o'erwhelmed visage of compromise give way to dire foul and murderous instinct.
For, the nobility of war hangs highest, when there is not but to do, to act, and to spark the baser fang.
Ah! the master wordsmithing of the great Bard hisself, translated into modern English by playwrights you've never heard of before. This should be good! Really good! Really, really... [pause] Good!
1
This will dumb down Shake-speare in a number of ways: 1) the power of the poetry and the form will be lost; 2) the biographical allusions, of which there are hundreds, if not thousands, will be lost, because the dumbing down is being done by those who don't know anything about the author; and, 3) this will discourage people from learning English, which fits right in with the Orwellian agenda of the ruling cartel.
1
Would these playwrights object to a 'translation' of the language of August Wilson so that his plays are more understandable ? when the language is the play you cannot and should not change it.
2
Updating Shakespeare doesn't bother me so much as state education standards (e.g. Washington State) that miss the value of Shakespeare's best work. As a sometime performer, theatre teacher, and critic I view the melding of form and content in the way the language structure embodies the meaning as the highest value of these works. Last I knew the WA state standards stated that the works are great because they're "timeless"--whatever that means. Maybe that's a literary view, but approaching Shakespeare as literature baffles me.
That said, here goes:
Once more, attack the broken wall, once more;
Or fill the hole up with our casualties.
In peacetime we are nice, polite, and kind.
We're civilized, housebroken, safe, and tame:
But when we hear the bugle call we must
Release our inner animals and roar:
Muscles clenched, hearts thumping, gnashing teeth.
Let's mask our faces in an unhinged rage;
Get wild-eyed; blaze with both barrels;
Glare through brows so heavy, hard, and dark,
As if a boulder hanging from a cliff,
Above the wild and barren ocean waves.
That said, here goes:
Once more, attack the broken wall, once more;
Or fill the hole up with our casualties.
In peacetime we are nice, polite, and kind.
We're civilized, housebroken, safe, and tame:
But when we hear the bugle call we must
Release our inner animals and roar:
Muscles clenched, hearts thumping, gnashing teeth.
Let's mask our faces in an unhinged rage;
Get wild-eyed; blaze with both barrels;
Glare through brows so heavy, hard, and dark,
As if a boulder hanging from a cliff,
Above the wild and barren ocean waves.
The quote from David Hitz, Play On's benefactor, explained better than any the need to expose everyone to performances of Shakespeare using the original text.
“Just once, I want to see Shakespeare in my native language and understand it at speed, without having to work that hard,” he said.
Shakespeare is writing in our native language, albeit in a theatrical form that was popular 400 years ago. Yes, it does require some work to understand, but so does all great work and I am sure Shakespeare's audience did not understand every line and allusion in his time either.
Shakespeare's plays are not fast food, they are not a snack, they are not a text message, and they are not data. They are, to be sure, entertainment, and most importantly they were meant to be performed and watched. The $3.5 million would have been better spent on programs that give children the opportunity to learn and perform Shakespeare as originally written.
“Just once, I want to see Shakespeare in my native language and understand it at speed, without having to work that hard,” he said.
Shakespeare is writing in our native language, albeit in a theatrical form that was popular 400 years ago. Yes, it does require some work to understand, but so does all great work and I am sure Shakespeare's audience did not understand every line and allusion in his time either.
Shakespeare's plays are not fast food, they are not a snack, they are not a text message, and they are not data. They are, to be sure, entertainment, and most importantly they were meant to be performed and watched. The $3.5 million would have been better spent on programs that give children the opportunity to learn and perform Shakespeare as originally written.
5
I think it's swell. Down with purism.
Oh friends, let's try to keep them from that gap
Or close it with our bodies as we fall.
In peacetime nothing is more virtuous
Than unassuming and unruffled calm;
But when the soldier trumpets the attack,
Then play the tiger - pump adrenaline,
Flex every tendon, ready every limb;
Cover civility with savage fury,
And glare to turn the enemy's bones to mush.
Or close it with our bodies as we fall.
In peacetime nothing is more virtuous
Than unassuming and unruffled calm;
But when the soldier trumpets the attack,
Then play the tiger - pump adrenaline,
Flex every tendon, ready every limb;
Cover civility with savage fury,
And glare to turn the enemy's bones to mush.
McLaughlin's "translation" won't be any more "user-friendly" to those for whom it is written. People who merely expect to be entertained without deeply participating intellectually and emotionally in the production will not gain an understanding no matter what is done to make it "easier" for them.
2
Sound The Trumpets!
Folks – don’t bet on our foes with one piaster
Unless Hillary leads us – which would be a disaster
Tomorrow as one we raise arms, set sails
Unless there’s breaking news about more emails
While it’s true I love war, I still love the French
Before Ivanka, there was this one Gallic wench
But now smooth your locks with Hair Club for Men
And prepare to bombard the hell out of them
Our warrior bonds are uncleavable
And when we win it will be so unbelievable
A triumph for our betterment
Led by what I believe, folks, is my incredible temperament
I mean, folks, it’s so unbelievable, it’s incredible
We’ve got the best soldiers and camp followers easily beddable
I’m a winner so we’ll win, win big, win so huge
I’ll kick the crap out of those frogs –
Apres moi, la deluge!
Folks – don’t bet on our foes with one piaster
Unless Hillary leads us – which would be a disaster
Tomorrow as one we raise arms, set sails
Unless there’s breaking news about more emails
While it’s true I love war, I still love the French
Before Ivanka, there was this one Gallic wench
But now smooth your locks with Hair Club for Men
And prepare to bombard the hell out of them
Our warrior bonds are uncleavable
And when we win it will be so unbelievable
A triumph for our betterment
Led by what I believe, folks, is my incredible temperament
I mean, folks, it’s so unbelievable, it’s incredible
We’ve got the best soldiers and camp followers easily beddable
I’m a winner so we’ll win, win big, win so huge
I’ll kick the crap out of those frogs –
Apres moi, la deluge!
3
"In the phrase, tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the tree imparts knowledge of tov wa-ra, "good and bad". The traditional translation is "good and evil", but tov wa-ra is a fixed expression denoting "everything". "
The translators of the Bible, being imbued with righteous zeal, made this a moral statement, when it was in fact a description of cognitive capability ...
Most translations, including those of Shakespeare, fall into this kind of error. They are vessels for the translator's cultural preconceptions.
The translators of the Bible, being imbued with righteous zeal, made this a moral statement, when it was in fact a description of cognitive capability ...
Most translations, including those of Shakespeare, fall into this kind of error. They are vessels for the translator's cultural preconceptions.
3
Again into the wall’s breach, dear friends, once again;
Or fill it with our dead comrades.
In peacetime a man is properly
Quiet and humble:
But when the chaos of war blows in our ears,
Then we must emulate the tiger;
Stiffen our muscle, call up anger,
Disguise ourselves with ugly rage;
Look on others with contempt and anger,
Let our eyes stab through
Like brass cannons from a ship's side; let the forehead overpower
As dreadfully as an embittered rock
Overhangs and thrusts from its ruined base,
Drenched with the wild and ravaging sea.
Or fill it with our dead comrades.
In peacetime a man is properly
Quiet and humble:
But when the chaos of war blows in our ears,
Then we must emulate the tiger;
Stiffen our muscle, call up anger,
Disguise ourselves with ugly rage;
Look on others with contempt and anger,
Let our eyes stab through
Like brass cannons from a ship's side; let the forehead overpower
As dreadfully as an embittered rock
Overhangs and thrusts from its ruined base,
Drenched with the wild and ravaging sea.
Shall we not weigh Lear's deprecations against these churlish proposals to castrate his creator's poetry? "O! reason not the need; our basest beggars / Are in the poorest things superfluous: / Allow not nature more than nature needs, / Man's life is cheap as beast's. . . ."
Who can be so blind not to see the priceless singularity, the exalting glory, the mind-breaking pleasure of Shakespeare's unique language--the essence of his plays--"turning the green one red"?
Admittedly, minds of a certain scope are needed to comprehend,, and be illuminated, by that language, just as legs and lungs of certain quality are needed to scale 8000 meter peaks or complete marathons. Such is life.
Does anyone think that slackers ferried to the peaks by helicopters would experience anything comparable to those who have worked to win through on their own virtue? Those worthy of Shakespeare know how true this is of his language.
Who can be so blind not to see the priceless singularity, the exalting glory, the mind-breaking pleasure of Shakespeare's unique language--the essence of his plays--"turning the green one red"?
Admittedly, minds of a certain scope are needed to comprehend,, and be illuminated, by that language, just as legs and lungs of certain quality are needed to scale 8000 meter peaks or complete marathons. Such is life.
Does anyone think that slackers ferried to the peaks by helicopters would experience anything comparable to those who have worked to win through on their own virtue? Those worthy of Shakespeare know how true this is of his language.
5
Sorry. It's a shameful idea and speaks volumes on not only our level of education but our values. To reduce Shakespeare to plot points, banalities and substitution is to rob it of its context, originality, and the author's voice. It reflects the fact that we have a culture that can only refer to the familiar, has no sense of history and has the collective attention span of a gerbil. It is a cynical act done shamefully. It is a gimmick and a sad one at that.
3
I am not being permitted to recommend your comment because when I do it merely takes away a recommend that has already been tallied. Who knows, you probably have 10,000 actual recommends.
Note TO NYT: This does not happen for any other comments for this article that I
recommend!
Note TO NYT: This does not happen for any other comments for this article that I
recommend!
Forward, dear friends, into the breach again;
Or brick the hole wall high with comrades’ bones.
A man is known in peacetime for his gifts;
His modest humble courage sleeps unwaked:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then truly imitate the tiger’s shape;
Mass your muscles and summon up your blood,
Reshape your fair face with a raging mask;
Then let your eyes expand with hatred’s gleam
And bulge out through the sockets of your head
Like the brass cannon; your brow curl over
As fearfully as a brooding cliff-face
Juts out and overhangs a rock-toothed beach
Awash with waves from screaming Ocean’s mouth.
Or brick the hole wall high with comrades’ bones.
A man is known in peacetime for his gifts;
His modest humble courage sleeps unwaked:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then truly imitate the tiger’s shape;
Mass your muscles and summon up your blood,
Reshape your fair face with a raging mask;
Then let your eyes expand with hatred’s gleam
And bulge out through the sockets of your head
Like the brass cannon; your brow curl over
As fearfully as a brooding cliff-face
Juts out and overhangs a rock-toothed beach
Awash with waves from screaming Ocean’s mouth.
It's pretty good, but what's the need?
3
"Sir Thomas Kyd"? Huh?
1
"But many in the group — more than half of the commissioned playwrights are minorities, and more than half are women..."
Of course they are: Yet again confusing equality with equalization.
Of course they are: Yet again confusing equality with equalization.
2
Regarding the proposed project of translating Shakespeare's works, I object to the term "translation", since this term to my understanding implies converting words from one language to a different one. I would prefer that the term "reconstructing" or "rewriting" be used instead, since the aim here is toward remodeling the structure of the original work.
I first started to read Shakespeare in Spanish translations as a youngster while growing up in Latin America. These were translations made into prose form and were very readable, but nevertheless beautiful the same. Now I have acquired the privilege to enjoy reading and listening to Shakespeare, just the way he intended to be read and heard.
It was only one week ago that I became breathless at the mesmerizing sight of an exhibit of Shakespeare's First Folio, now on a National tour. I cannot conceive the fact that in order to justify an easier access to his beautiful verse, Shakespeare's writings have to be submitted to "translation", or rather "reconstruction", which in fact amounts to actual mutilation!
I first started to read Shakespeare in Spanish translations as a youngster while growing up in Latin America. These were translations made into prose form and were very readable, but nevertheless beautiful the same. Now I have acquired the privilege to enjoy reading and listening to Shakespeare, just the way he intended to be read and heard.
It was only one week ago that I became breathless at the mesmerizing sight of an exhibit of Shakespeare's First Folio, now on a National tour. I cannot conceive the fact that in order to justify an easier access to his beautiful verse, Shakespeare's writings have to be submitted to "translation", or rather "reconstruction", which in fact amounts to actual mutilation!
1
You do realise that "taketh" is third person singular and "36 playwrights", well, plural, don't you?
5
As many newspaper readers know, and as many journalists surely bemoan, there is a separate crew of people who write headlines and photo captions. Sometimes one wonders whether they have read the articles; at other times, as in this instance, their shortcomings leap out.
As for the Play On! project, it is not "translation"; it is re-writing. “You can’t go in with the illusion that you’re improving Shakespeare" gives the lie to the whole thing. As for Mr. Hitz's comment, “Just once, I want to see Shakespeare in my native language and understand it at speed, without having to work that hard,” I suggest that a reasonably literate person can see a well-acted Shakespeare play without ever having read it and understand 85% of the language, and that that experience will be more rewarding than understanding 100% of the language of a re-written play in which 50% isn't Shakesepeare's.
As for the Play On! project, it is not "translation"; it is re-writing. “You can’t go in with the illusion that you’re improving Shakespeare" gives the lie to the whole thing. As for Mr. Hitz's comment, “Just once, I want to see Shakespeare in my native language and understand it at speed, without having to work that hard,” I suggest that a reasonably literate person can see a well-acted Shakespeare play without ever having read it and understand 85% of the language, and that that experience will be more rewarding than understanding 100% of the language of a re-written play in which 50% isn't Shakesepeare's.
7
As a high school English teacher, I can certainly sympathize with the impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible. I've read Hamlet over 100 times and still need the footnotes and struggle with some of the thornier lines. That said, Shakespeare without the language simply isn't Shakespeare. I remember seeing an updated musical version of The Winter's Tale years ago at the American Repertory Theater. The dialogue was flat and banal--despite the gussied up stage effects--but every now and then a line would "pop", and my husband and I knew those were the original ones. I prefer judicious cutting to rewriting. And, yes, he is read in translation all around the world, but something is, indeed, lost in the process. Why would a native Russian speaker choose "translated" Pushkin?
6
And the dumbing down of America continues, unabated.
Maybe a Shakespeare comic book edition with "modern" English would suffice?
Maybe a Shakespeare comic book edition with "modern" English would suffice?
4
"what a coil is there...!" (comedy of errors, IIIi)
the "fuss" (which works for luce, the harried servant) may not be so good for the harried prince of denmark whose "mortal coil" has considerably more resonance.
but in the matter of the "play on!" project the fuss
may subside some if everyone takes a deep breath and steps back from "translation," which has gorges rising, if you will, toward ms douthit's "...annotations," (leaving the judgement, "creative or not creative" to the ears of their beholders, which ears, alas, must also be the judges of what is or is not comprehensible, what is or is not "reaching us."
shifting emphasis so might help dissipate the haze of defensiveness that hangs over the tone of the article (nyt 10/1).
while leaving the "thees and thous" hardly risks
grasp, unpacking words like "moor" for example hints at the potential for "personal politics" (never mind the havoc "several different words" would wreak on meter)...what then of "ethiope" or "...lest the devil cross my prayer, for here he comes in the likeness of a jew."
however it goes we can look forward, at least, to fixing "wherefore art thou romeo" too often played with hand at brow, eyes scanning the horizon.
kudos to mr. hitz for his generosity but alas, his access to shakespeare won't be "unmediated."
the "fuss" (which works for luce, the harried servant) may not be so good for the harried prince of denmark whose "mortal coil" has considerably more resonance.
but in the matter of the "play on!" project the fuss
may subside some if everyone takes a deep breath and steps back from "translation," which has gorges rising, if you will, toward ms douthit's "...annotations," (leaving the judgement, "creative or not creative" to the ears of their beholders, which ears, alas, must also be the judges of what is or is not comprehensible, what is or is not "reaching us."
shifting emphasis so might help dissipate the haze of defensiveness that hangs over the tone of the article (nyt 10/1).
while leaving the "thees and thous" hardly risks
grasp, unpacking words like "moor" for example hints at the potential for "personal politics" (never mind the havoc "several different words" would wreak on meter)...what then of "ethiope" or "...lest the devil cross my prayer, for here he comes in the likeness of a jew."
however it goes we can look forward, at least, to fixing "wherefore art thou romeo" too often played with hand at brow, eyes scanning the horizon.
kudos to mr. hitz for his generosity but alas, his access to shakespeare won't be "unmediated."
1
Shakespeare's English "translators" are censors ... they weigh the merit of every word or line as they alone see it and alone judge its value, and in doing so put themselves above Shakespeare ... ha! ... reminds me of movie censors who decide which expletive is acceptable and which not ... presumably according to a fantasy called "prevailing community standards" that only they discern ...
I have an analogous idea: let's translate all of Mozart's or Wagner's music, or even better, R. Strauss' ... the whole classical cannon ... Isn’t the point to make everything more accessible to everyone regardless of their capabilities and effort?
I think we are seeing Uberization of the Arts.
I have an analogous idea: let's translate all of Mozart's or Wagner's music, or even better, R. Strauss' ... the whole classical cannon ... Isn’t the point to make everything more accessible to everyone regardless of their capabilities and effort?
I think we are seeing Uberization of the Arts.
3
More ignorance delivered to the ignorant.
3
Thou dumbeth down the very language which strives to elevate the mind and soul to its excellence. Enough ! Enough !
1
That might be "thou dumbst" .... unless you are being sarcastic in line with the mistaken "taketh" in the article's title ...
1
My turn on Henry V:
Come on.
Let's go waste some dudes.
Come on.
Let's go waste some dudes.
5
Keep going. Sounds promising ...
1
maybe that's all that frrborn needs, sound good....maybe have a look at "upon the king"
...oi! may do the job....rmember comden and greens "culture in a capsule," recording... the gist, and nothing but the gist: "jean valjean, no evil doer/stole some bread 'cause he was poor/detective chased him through a sewer/the end."
...oi! may do the job....rmember comden and greens "culture in a capsule," recording... the gist, and nothing but the gist: "jean valjean, no evil doer/stole some bread 'cause he was poor/detective chased him through a sewer/the end."
1
My parents, who grew up in Hungary, read all the great classics in Hungarian translation, from Dostoevski to Shakespeare.
I recall my father once exclaiming, when I mentioned that my class was reading "Julius Caesar,"
"Es maga, Brutus?"
Kinda puts all this in perspective.
I recall my father once exclaiming, when I mentioned that my class was reading "Julius Caesar,"
"Es maga, Brutus?"
Kinda puts all this in perspective.
3
Shakespeare is more popular in Germany and France than he is in England and the USA. Those who dislike the translation project should ask themselves why that should be true.
3
All that needs to be done is to update the obsolete words. New lines do not need to be written.
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour’d rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let pry through the apertures of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o’erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a worn out rock
O’erhang and jut o’er its ruined base,
Consumed with the wild and wasteful ocean.
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour’d rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let pry through the apertures of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o’erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a worn out rock
O’erhang and jut o’er its ruined base,
Consumed with the wild and wasteful ocean.
2
Excellent ... you are onto something ..
1
It's difficult to improve on Shakespeare, for either a modern or historical audience, to which those who have attempted a "translation" will no doubt attest ... the translation typically says more about the translator than about Shakespeare or the verse ...
Though I did give it a valiant try, as I am fond of composing poems, ditties really, and, after considering each line carefully, here is the best I could come up with:
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour’d rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o’erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a galled rock
O’erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swill’d with the wild and wasteful ocean.
Though I did give it a valiant try, as I am fond of composing poems, ditties really, and, after considering each line carefully, here is the best I could come up with:
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour’d rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o’erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a galled rock
O’erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swill’d with the wild and wasteful ocean.
6
Brilliantly done!
2
Amazing! Familiar, too...
Hideous headline. "Taketh" is third person present SINGULAR.
2
The idea of "translating" Shakespeare is silly. There's nothing to translate. "Shakespeare" isn't a language - it's just English, that's perhaps a little...archaic. Once you read a few of his plays, and even better SEE a few of his plays, you won't be needing to Google every line you don't understand. It just takes getting used to.
5
Either get your butts up to the breach or fill it with your corpses
You can be meek and mild back home on your deck;
But when you feel that blast in your ears, be like the tiger.
Pump your muscles, get the blood moving and show your mean face.
Channel the rage and put fire in your eyes.
You are the rock, man, and the water just splashes against you.
You can be meek and mild back home on your deck;
But when you feel that blast in your ears, be like the tiger.
Pump your muscles, get the blood moving and show your mean face.
Channel the rage and put fire in your eyes.
You are the rock, man, and the water just splashes against you.
3
The translated selection from Pericles is an odd choice to take for an example, and it probably does not show this translation at its best. Shakespeare is mocking fourteenth-century verse here, as Gower was an old-fashioned, fuddy-duddy poet by Shakespeare's time, and he is not writing in his own style. The octosyllabic meter, the rhymes that sound forced in modern English (festivals/ales; lives/restoratives), and even the kooky Latin tag are features of Gower's style that Shakespeare skewers -- and these are totally obliterated in the translation, however nice it is on its own. At the same time that the prologue satirizes Gower's style, it makes a good case for the value of old poetry as proof against "latter times/ When wit's more ripe," using an ironic pose that Gower would have appreciated! Again, this is lost in the translation. Poor Gower's been snuffed out again!
So perhaps this was a good example, because it shows just how much meaning is lost in trying to make any poet's meaning as clear as possible.
So perhaps this was a good example, because it shows just how much meaning is lost in trying to make any poet's meaning as clear as possible.
9
Myra Durkin
Boston, MA
I have a suggestion that solves this problem: Why not use supertitles as is done in opera productions? This allows the audience to understand the words without changing anything in the original work. And it's rather inexpensive.
Boston, MA
I have a suggestion that solves this problem: Why not use supertitles as is done in opera productions? This allows the audience to understand the words without changing anything in the original work. And it's rather inexpensive.
3
What strikes my eye uncomfortably is the headline itself. Thirty-six playwrights cannot 'taketh' anything: it is the old 3rd person **singular** present indicative form of 'to take', not the plural 'take' required for the host of playwrights in the sentence in question. Just plastering any-old archaism on to a sentence doth not for a Shakespeare make...
6
Whoever wrote this ungrammatical headline is showing his or her ignorance of Elizabethan English by combining the third-person singular verb ending with a plural subject, i.e., by putting -eth on the end of 'take.' It should be just 'take.' At least Mad Magazine in its cartoon version of 'Julius Caesar' did it in a humorous way when Brutus says to his gathered followers, "Come on, boyseth!"
4
The Ashland initiative is defeatist, to put it simply. When the language is spoke with force and understanding, the unfamiliar words cease to be a problem - and we can be treated to the shock of the old instead of the banality of the new.
This is 'an accident of hourly proof' in theaters.
But, by the way, it would help if the headline-writer hadn't fallen into a pit of ink and made the common mistake of thinking every verb in Shakespeare's English ends in '-eth' (the third person singular, itself not invariably used) where 'take would be the correct form. It's the 'olde tea shoppe' style of mimicking earlier English speech and writing.
This is 'an accident of hourly proof' in theaters.
But, by the way, it would help if the headline-writer hadn't fallen into a pit of ink and made the common mistake of thinking every verb in Shakespeare's English ends in '-eth' (the third person singular, itself not invariably used) where 'take would be the correct form. It's the 'olde tea shoppe' style of mimicking earlier English speech and writing.
6
"... pit of ink ... " ... nicely phrased ...
2
Initially I was skeptical of this idea, but this sample from Ellen McLaughlin is lovely. If the rest do so much honor to Shakespeare's verse, bring them on!
6
Years ago I saw a production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" performed by inner-city teenagers. Whoever adapted it kept the poetry where it should have been kept, but the boisterous prose of Bottom and his friends was done in rap, and it was altogether delightful ("Out of this 'hood do not desire to go"). Shakespeare would have adored it.
8
What a foolish and short-sighted idea. Total waste of time and money.
11
Good to see you're keeping an open mind!
This is already mostly in modern English. What the writers in the comments seem to have done is used a thesaurus to replace words with their synonyms.
"Once more into the breech, dear friends, once more"
There is a breech in the castle wall. That's just a normal English word, guys. We can keep it.
"Once more into the breech, dear friends, once more"
There is a breech in the castle wall. That's just a normal English word, guys. We can keep it.
7
I believe Shakespeare used the word "breach," not "breech," which refers to the lower rear portion of the human trunk.
2
Have I the wit and brawn of brain
To match the bard in his domain?
Would I upon myself take task
To alter word and thoughts so cherished in distant past,
That men who read the were aghast
that such simplicity and rhyme could alter the world
and make it the sublime.
No sir not I, for even in great repute
There are some tasks that do not suit.
The bard I humbly leave alone
To sit upon his golden throne
Of words, and thoughts, and deeds presented,
To those of us whose minds awake
At merely the thought of he, the man the Shake.
To match the bard in his domain?
Would I upon myself take task
To alter word and thoughts so cherished in distant past,
That men who read the were aghast
that such simplicity and rhyme could alter the world
and make it the sublime.
No sir not I, for even in great repute
There are some tasks that do not suit.
The bard I humbly leave alone
To sit upon his golden throne
Of words, and thoughts, and deeds presented,
To those of us whose minds awake
At merely the thought of he, the man the Shake.
12
Mr. Frauenglass, I must say this does get better after the third beer ...
1
You win the internet.
They should use the commissions for this tripe to open their doors WIDE to new playwrights; there could be a new Shakespeare or Beckett out there but this poor excuse for a theater, alas, will never know it, due to its "clubby" submission policies and nauseatingly insular approach to the care and feeding of their cloistered, sheltered audiences who will never know any better unless things change and the money goes where it counts!
5
Well said. This money would be better spent commissioning new works, not defacing Shakespeare. Great art sometimes requires a little effort. What's next? We start tinkering with Mozart and Mahler to make their music more immediately accessible? Rubbish.
And by the way, the implicit racial/gender quotas being used to select these playwrights adds insult to injury.
Yeats - a prophet - was right:
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
And by the way, the implicit racial/gender quotas being used to select these playwrights adds insult to injury.
Yeats - a prophet - was right:
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
5
The largest of challenges is before us again as fellow citizens and we cannot back down.
In times of peace we honor and hold dear our our common solitude but when our peace is threatened by terrorism, we must act one and all, despite the evaporation of that peace we hold dear.
Our very peace is describable in each piece of our body, feeling action in all parts like an encroaching tiger, sensing the fight is near.
Our blood rises in our face.
Our adrenaline pumps it's drum, and we see the call to our animal nature in our eye's glassy gaze, our brow's cro-magnificent furrowing, and our bodies' muscular territorial expansion.
Our unnatural look is wild and yet quite natural as a cliff stands it's fury in the brace of a hard ocean swell against us.
Now, in this vision, placed in unison, teeth and the breath combined, as a tiger stalking it's prey, not alone, but with many similar bodies in a test together.
A true test for an English soldier is to summon these natural forces together.
Show your countrymen what your made of together as one body, one tiger, and one England.
So, now prove your worth your breeding and in true spirit and cry forth together.
"The game's afoot like racing dogs preparing chase."
Bark to heaven and shout:
"FOR ENGLAND! FOR KING HARRY! FOR ST. GEORGE!
OUR TIME IS NOW. WE ARE THE TIGER AT PEACE AND AT WAR!"
In times of peace we honor and hold dear our our common solitude but when our peace is threatened by terrorism, we must act one and all, despite the evaporation of that peace we hold dear.
Our very peace is describable in each piece of our body, feeling action in all parts like an encroaching tiger, sensing the fight is near.
Our blood rises in our face.
Our adrenaline pumps it's drum, and we see the call to our animal nature in our eye's glassy gaze, our brow's cro-magnificent furrowing, and our bodies' muscular territorial expansion.
Our unnatural look is wild and yet quite natural as a cliff stands it's fury in the brace of a hard ocean swell against us.
Now, in this vision, placed in unison, teeth and the breath combined, as a tiger stalking it's prey, not alone, but with many similar bodies in a test together.
A true test for an English soldier is to summon these natural forces together.
Show your countrymen what your made of together as one body, one tiger, and one England.
So, now prove your worth your breeding and in true spirit and cry forth together.
"The game's afoot like racing dogs preparing chase."
Bark to heaven and shout:
"FOR ENGLAND! FOR KING HARRY! FOR ST. GEORGE!
OUR TIME IS NOW. WE ARE THE TIGER AT PEACE AND AT WAR!"
1
I tried to change it as little as possible yet keeping the meaning clear for modern reader.
Once more into the breach, dear friends, once more
Or close the wall up with our bodies dead.
In peace there's nothing so suits a man
Than modest quietness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the muscles, stir up the blood,
Disguise civil nature with less favoured rage;
Then lend your eyes a terrifying look;
Let them pop up through holes of the head
Like the brass canon; let the brow guard them
As fearfully as does a frightening rock
Overhung and outthrust from its confounded base
Drenched with the wild and wasteful ocean.
Once more into the breach, dear friends, once more
Or close the wall up with our bodies dead.
In peace there's nothing so suits a man
Than modest quietness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the muscles, stir up the blood,
Disguise civil nature with less favoured rage;
Then lend your eyes a terrifying look;
Let them pop up through holes of the head
Like the brass canon; let the brow guard them
As fearfully as does a frightening rock
Overhung and outthrust from its confounded base
Drenched with the wild and wasteful ocean.
11
Given all the desperately needy causes confronting today's world, the fact that someone is paying $3.5 billion dollars for this project makes me want to weep. I'll tell you what else would provide "more of a bridge" between Shakespeare and "younger audiences": that same $3.5 billion dollars judiciously applied towards our nation's public schools.
15
Oops, typo, $3.5 million, of course. (But it wouldn't it be great to see the other amount applied to our schools?!)
1
Million. Not billion. That's a rather enormous difference.
It's $3.5 MILLION, and it looks like it's spread over 36 playwrights over 3 years which if spread equally would amount to $32,407 per year per person.
1
Once more into the gap, dear friends, once more;
Or fill the hole up with our English dead.
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest silence and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in your ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen your nerves and summon your rage,
Hide your softness with a fierce mask;
Then lend your eye a terrorist's aspect;
Let your steely wrathful glare
Blaze out beneath your jutted brow,
Fierce as a craggy, jagged cliff
Above the battered tumbled rocks
Swirled by wild tempestuous seas.
Or fill the hole up with our English dead.
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest silence and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in your ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen your nerves and summon your rage,
Hide your softness with a fierce mask;
Then lend your eye a terrorist's aspect;
Let your steely wrathful glare
Blaze out beneath your jutted brow,
Fierce as a craggy, jagged cliff
Above the battered tumbled rocks
Swirled by wild tempestuous seas.
Once again into the gap, brothers,
Or bury yourselves in French walls.
In peace there's honor in modesty and humility;
But if war cries out, the tiger is about us.
Gird your muscles and gut it up,
Conceal your goodness with war's face of rage.
Then turn your eye upon them like a cannon with terrifying brow craning over them as a precipice they can neither climb nor break down no matter how much French blood splash upon our faces.
Good graces, I'm not up to the job, but when called upon, don't say I didn't answer. I think this guy was a cousin, so I just tried to get his point a cross. Yeah, I know it's not blood but water, yet I'm pretty sure he wanted them bathed in it.
Or bury yourselves in French walls.
In peace there's honor in modesty and humility;
But if war cries out, the tiger is about us.
Gird your muscles and gut it up,
Conceal your goodness with war's face of rage.
Then turn your eye upon them like a cannon with terrifying brow craning over them as a precipice they can neither climb nor break down no matter how much French blood splash upon our faces.
Good graces, I'm not up to the job, but when called upon, don't say I didn't answer. I think this guy was a cousin, so I just tried to get his point a cross. Yeah, I know it's not blood but water, yet I'm pretty sure he wanted them bathed in it.
The modern translation of Pericles doesn't seem any easier to understand than the original. So what's the point?
3
Methinks the temptation would be to change too much. Look at the submission from Daniel of Portland and you can see the trouble with it. Remove one trochee from a single line of text that a powerful actress or actor would set fire to and you have diminished the entire line. Every one of the translators is going to understand this? Really? Do no harm? I am reminded of a line by Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof and I am ironically paraphrasing here, "Remove one little thread. Where does it stop? Where does it end?".
7
I dislike the translation, on aesthetic grounds, but the translation also dispenses with terms that give us a sense of the character of Shakespeare's time. For example, the word "restoratives" and the phrase "when wit's more ripe." There's no equivalent for "restorative" in the translation. Perhaps in the 21st century, we have no conceptual equivalent. Furthermore, the word "ripe" comes from a more agrarian era. "Ripe," I believe, meant both "more fully realized, more mature" and also "about to spoil or on the verge of going rotten." It's a way of saying that the current times (Shakespeare's) was both more sophisticated and also more decadent and superficial. What's missing in the translation is Shakespeare's commingled admiration and contempt foe his era.
1
Hard and fun. Ok here goes...
Again, gentleman, we attack again;
Or the end, will be but the bodies of our men.
Before, we measured ourselves differently
We valued peace, quiet. and humility.
But in the sights and sounds of war we change.
Today we shall become the beast.
Today we rise, harden; our muscles strain,
And we fill our minds with our just rage.
Let them see in our eyes the death that stalks.
We will overwhelm as our weapons talk.
We will split them and drive them.
Into the wild and wasteful ocean that waits.
Again, gentleman, we attack again;
Or the end, will be but the bodies of our men.
Before, we measured ourselves differently
We valued peace, quiet. and humility.
But in the sights and sounds of war we change.
Today we shall become the beast.
Today we rise, harden; our muscles strain,
And we fill our minds with our just rage.
Let them see in our eyes the death that stalks.
We will overwhelm as our weapons talk.
We will split them and drive them.
Into the wild and wasteful ocean that waits.
3
This strikes me as almost skaldic, rather than Bardic. ;-)
My eighth graders put on two Shakespeare plays each year. While we abridge the plays because of time constraints (our plays run about 90 minutes), we never "translate" the plays. The actors do just fine, as do the younger students in the audience (who have been told the plot in advance).
6
I'm definitely not a Shakespeare scholar, or a poet, so I've tried to go for the minimum changes to give the maximum modern comprehension. Please feel free to plagiarize or criticize.
Once more into the battle, dear friends, once more,
Or ring us round with our English dead.
In peace there's nothing so suits a man
As modest calm and humility,
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger,
Stiffen your sinews, summon up your courage,
Transform yourself to hard-headed rage.
Shoot flames of fire from your eyes,
As if they were cannons in your head.
Let your angry brow be as hard as rock
jutting over the confounded enemy
as if they were a ragged shore
Pounded by a wild and wasteful ocean.
Once more into the battle, dear friends, once more,
Or ring us round with our English dead.
In peace there's nothing so suits a man
As modest calm and humility,
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger,
Stiffen your sinews, summon up your courage,
Transform yourself to hard-headed rage.
Shoot flames of fire from your eyes,
As if they were cannons in your head.
Let your angry brow be as hard as rock
jutting over the confounded enemy
as if they were a ragged shore
Pounded by a wild and wasteful ocean.
4
Looking at the "Once more unto the breach" speech got me thinking that maybe the most famous speeches should be kept in the original language as separate from the run of the mill parts of Shakespeare's plays, the way musicals are mostly plain dialogue but now and then have songs that are heightened and non-realistic experiences.
For example, why not keep this from Hamlet just the way it is:
"What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world. The paragon of animals. And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me."
Rather than:
"What a perfect invention a human is, how noble in his capacity to reason, how unlimited in thinking, how admirable in his shape and movement, how angelic in action, how godlike in understanding! There’s nothing more beautiful. We surpass all other animals. And yet to me, what are we but dust? Men don’t interest me"
For example, why not keep this from Hamlet just the way it is:
"What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world. The paragon of animals. And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me."
Rather than:
"What a perfect invention a human is, how noble in his capacity to reason, how unlimited in thinking, how admirable in his shape and movement, how angelic in action, how godlike in understanding! There’s nothing more beautiful. We surpass all other animals. And yet to me, what are we but dust? Men don’t interest me"
6
Oddly, I think "what a piece of work" works just fine in modern-modern English, because we still use that phrase today! (Yes, yes, that's the Shakespearean influence in our language.)
2
Ms. Schuessler (or her editor) bombed right in the title of this article. "Taketh" is a third person singular form of "to take." Because its subject ("playwrights") is plural, the verb should also be plural. No early modern English speaker would have said "36 playwrights taketh" anything.
17
You have to keep almost all of Shakespeare. This is not translation, so making an analogy to people translating to other languages is not the same. A try:
Once more to the battlefront, dear friends;
Or close up the wall with our English dead.
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility;
But when the sound of war blows in your ears,
We imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise your peaceful nature with your rage;
And bring on the most terrible, dangerous look
As though your eyes were cannons, and your brows
As fearful as crumbling rocky seacliff
Swilled with the wild and wasteful ocean.
Once more to the battlefront, dear friends;
Or close up the wall with our English dead.
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility;
But when the sound of war blows in your ears,
We imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise your peaceful nature with your rage;
And bring on the most terrible, dangerous look
As though your eyes were cannons, and your brows
As fearful as crumbling rocky seacliff
Swilled with the wild and wasteful ocean.
10
The translation project is, in my mind, idiotic. Changing Shakespeare's language is akin to re-painting the Mona Lisa to reflect what a modern woman would look like, or tinkering with the lyrics of a classic song to conform to ever-changing modern sensibilities. Like any great literary genius, Shakespeare chooses his words very carefully. His chief gift to us is to force us to use our minds in imaginative ways, and to engage with every single word and its multiple meanings, its sound, its sense, and its beauty, and also to make us aware of the limitless potential of language, in general. Whose fault is it that we don't understand something an artist creates? Is it the artist's or is it ours? Does Homer nod, or do we sleep? Altering Shakespeare's language is the supreme cop-out of a lazy mind.
29
This is not a very accurate metaphor. One who paints over the Mona Lisa is ruining the original. In this case, the adaption is created and the original play is still as available as it ever was. Why do you see this as harmful? Do you believe that schools will stop teaching Shakespeare?
2
I don't know about you, T. Blachly, but I don't read Homer in Ancient Greek.
1
Shakespeare is worth the effort. It's not a crime to not understand every word. Must everything be dumbed down?
18
When we read Homer in English instead of Ancient Greek, do you claim it's been "dumbed down"? If we translate Shakespeare into Modern Greece and stage it in Athens, is *that* "dumbed down"?
Ridiculous!
Ridiculous!
1
Traduttore, traditore.
Understanding shakespeare without the music of shakespeare is a bad idea You could say the same about, say Bob Dylan songs. Who understands all the lyrics? In an interview I read with Elvis Costello some years back, he quoted the lyric of I believe it was Like a Rolling stone, and the interviewer said, gently, that isn't what the lyric says. Who cares? One can understand the spirit. I'd feel cheated if wasn't hearing Shakespeare's words. Just like I'd feel cheated if I went to visit a natural monument and was led into a simulation of it that was "easier" for me to understand. This isn't elitism, it is wanting the real experience, it is not wanting to be cheated. This is one of the great things about being an English speaker. Don't let them steal it. Soon we will be having product placements in the new "translated" Hamlet. To be or not to be (in Breck shampoo that makes your hair bouncier and your smile brighter!) that is the question.
11
Altering Shakespeare's words is nothing new. What's new, in fact, is pretending that we should read them just as he wrote them, and that there's only one version of each play.
Audiences in the 19th century held as canon many lines which were added by later producers. Audiences today don't realize there are often multiple versions of the original floating about.
Audiences in the 19th century held as canon many lines which were added by later producers. Audiences today don't realize there are often multiple versions of the original floating about.
2
Wasn't it so much better when Dryden revised it to have Cordelia live?
Just about on a par with "Love Story", no?
Just about on a par with "Love Story", no?
Off with his head! So much for Buckingham!
Shakespeare? Or Colley Cibber?
Shakespeare? Or Colley Cibber?
1
I was lucky enough to have a brilliant English teacher in 10th grade. She took us to Stratford-upon-Avon to see the first RSC production directed by a woman. Buzz, Buzz, Buzz.
Buzz decided to set "As You Like It" in the present with Doc Martin's therapist auntie, Elaine Atkins, and Poroit, everyone's favorite Belgian, David Suchet as the leads.
See, he gets booted from society just as she also gets the word her family line is not welcome. They met back in the societal frame when she was taken but not stirred, but she's taken to dressing as a boy to survive a life in the woods. She torments him about his skill set in seducing women until he rights himself from an angry animal into a suitable spouse just in time for a turn around.
Problem was Buzz dressed the actors in denim to suit the present outcasts. How could he not know she was woman with that twiggy profile?
Buzz was well ahead of her time, because this time, one can direct it just as she did, but the translation is does she or doesn't she swing for men? He can talk about his dream girl all the day long with this gifted seducer of women, but he can't see through her transaction. Translation, things are changing, like we even have to vote to make that happen.
Buzz decided to set "As You Like It" in the present with Doc Martin's therapist auntie, Elaine Atkins, and Poroit, everyone's favorite Belgian, David Suchet as the leads.
See, he gets booted from society just as she also gets the word her family line is not welcome. They met back in the societal frame when she was taken but not stirred, but she's taken to dressing as a boy to survive a life in the woods. She torments him about his skill set in seducing women until he rights himself from an angry animal into a suitable spouse just in time for a turn around.
Problem was Buzz dressed the actors in denim to suit the present outcasts. How could he not know she was woman with that twiggy profile?
Buzz was well ahead of her time, because this time, one can direct it just as she did, but the translation is does she or doesn't she swing for men? He can talk about his dream girl all the day long with this gifted seducer of women, but he can't see through her transaction. Translation, things are changing, like we even have to vote to make that happen.
Buzz Goodbody.
do not possess the writerly skils to translate Shekespeare. I do wish to point out the huge number of Shakespeare translatiions to other languages, and no one takes umbrage at that.
8
It's just as easy for someone translating Shakespeare into a foreign language to decimate his work as it is for someone paraphrasing Shakespeare into modern English.
Maybe even easier....
4
Trying to translate this speech made me appreciate Shakespeare's genius all the more, as well as the talents of the playwrights and dramaturgs who are working to respect his rhythm and music and metaphor. I don't have the skill to pull it off, but it was fun to give it a shot. So, once more unto the breach:
Let’s shoot that gap once more, my lads, once more—
Or let our country’s corpses seal the wall.
In peacetime, you can be a man just fine
By keeping quiet; there’s no need to brag.
But when you hear that call to arms resound,
Then time to bring out the tiger in you!
Get your muscles pumping, pound your heart,
And make your face a rigid, angry mask;
Your eyes should terrify; shoot looks that kill,
With focus in your forehead like you’ve lined
Your weapons up to fire—your eyebrows aimed
Like angry rocks, an avalanche in check,
Just hanging there; you know it’s set to rock
The bottom of the cliff that’s wet and wasted.
Let’s shoot that gap once more, my lads, once more—
Or let our country’s corpses seal the wall.
In peacetime, you can be a man just fine
By keeping quiet; there’s no need to brag.
But when you hear that call to arms resound,
Then time to bring out the tiger in you!
Get your muscles pumping, pound your heart,
And make your face a rigid, angry mask;
Your eyes should terrify; shoot looks that kill,
With focus in your forehead like you’ve lined
Your weapons up to fire—your eyebrows aimed
Like angry rocks, an avalanche in check,
Just hanging there; you know it’s set to rock
The bottom of the cliff that’s wet and wasted.
19
Not bad ....