Customer Reviews

Times Alone: Selected Poems of Antonio Machado (Wesleyan Poetry in Translation)

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3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The charitable view is that Mr. Bly has attempted to translate the feeling of these poems, rather than the sense. The result is completely new poems loosely based on Machado's original.

Sadly, that is not my own view. Initially, in fact, my only thought was simply that the man is a terrible translator. Apparently Mr. Bly is himself a poet, which leads one to think that he has taken some liberties in "improving" on the Spanish original. He also has published translations from a large number of different languages. Perhaps he is a gifted linguist; perhaps (my own suspicion) he learns only enough of each language to make a stab at translation. Certainly THIS collection is a tremendous disappointment, and I am sad that some may come to Machado's excellent poems only in this sadly altered form. My own Spanish is good, but Machado uses many old words, and I had hoped for an expert translation. In this case, however, I will have to make do with a good Spanish only volume of Machado and margin notes made with the help of a dictionary. Maybe Mr. Bly's publisher will consider publishing my home grown version.

Bly deserves credit for introducing Spanish poetry to the American audience back in the 1950s and 1960s. Machado is a wonderful poet. Unfortunately, Bly is not a terribly good translator, and the result is a mismatch.

Lorca is often the first poet to come to North American minds when asked about Spanish poetry. Lorca's life is more dramatic, his intensity, his homosexuality, his death is by far more dramatic.

Antonio Machado is a big scruffier in image. Widowed before middle-age, Machado never quite recovered from the loss of his wife. He was a wanderer, a tutor, someone who might sit alone and calmly so at a cafe table, the ends of his pants a little worse for wear. He was drawn to philosophy and his poetry has a mystical quality to it. Yet his poems are like the songs of his Spanish youth. He is both outsider and native to the Spain that fills his poetry.

I found this translation to be a good introduction but not exceptional. Like the figure of Machado, the translations were a bit 'scruffy' at times. I recommend Willis Barnstone's larger tome. Reading Bly's renditions, I found the poems quite listless and sometimes dull - many had lost their gleam. In Barnstone's hands, I found the poems took on a deeper life. I am presently studying Spanish and will hopefully be able to read Machado in the original.

This is a good place to begin, but not the English zenith of Machado translations. Lorca has been well-serviced in English. I would like to see the same for Machado.

Obviously best read in his native spanish, but the absolute second best is Robert Bly's translation. A must have book for anyone who enjoys poetry. I loved this book so much, and found it so thought provoking I bought 4 copies to give to friends!

After reading this translation of the great poet Antonio Machado I was changed. I feel that Robert Bly's translations were prefect and captured the essence of the poem by carrying over the emotions only the europeans know into each word. The poems are tender and carry many meanings as you read them over and over. It's the best translation yet by the master Robert Bly.

Bly seems to miss the meaning of the words (both literal and figurative). It almost seems like these are his 'interpretations' rather than 'translations.'

Machado is one of Spain's greatest poets, and this collection includes some of his finest work. But amazon.com should get his name right: on most of the title bars, it's spelled MacHado, as if he were a Scot. He wasn't.