Within Unit Seven, we were told to read two translations of Akhmatova’s work. These two translations included one by Anderson and one by Thomas.
After reading both translations of Akhmatova’s work, my group and I unanimously agreed we enjoyed the Anderson translation more than the Thomas translation. Anderson relayed the information in a more simplified tone while Thomas chose to translate the work word for word. Even though both approaches make sense, I resonated with the work of Anderson more because the poems had better flow and rhythm, allowing myself to better understand the poem while Thomas’ work felt more choppy, making it more difficult to comprehend. Also, Anderson was successful in maintaining rhythm. Many lines in Anderson’s translation are syntactically reversed in comparison to Thomas’s translation. Overall, I was able to appreciate the poetry of Anderson over the poetry of Thomas.
Also, we were asked to reflect on Professor Ewington’s March 26th lecture.
I was shocked to learn how intense the censorship of art and literature was during Stalin’s reign.
I was interested to know when did poetry start holding so much weight in Russia?
