The Two Lovers of Heaven: Chrysanthus and Daria: A Drama of Early Christian RomeCalderón de la Barca, Pedro
Religion
The Two Lovers of Heaven: Chrysanthus and Daria: A Drama of Early Christian Rome
Calderón de la Barca, Pedro
Christian martyrs -- Italy -- Rome -- Drama
"Denis Florence M'Carthy published in London (in 1861) translations of
two plays, and an auto of Calderon, under the title of 'Love, the
greatest Enchantment; the Sorceries of Sin; the Devotion of the Cross,
from the Spanish of Calderon, attempted strictly in English Asonante,
and other imitative Verse', printing, at the same time, a carefully
corrected text of the originals, page by page, opposite to his
translations. It is, I think, one of the boldest attempts ever made in
English verse. It is, too, as it seems to me, remarkably successful.
Not that asonantes can be made fluent or graceful in English, or easily
perceptible to an English ear, but that the Spanish air and character of
Calderon are so happily preserved. Mr. M'Carthy, in 1853, had published
two volumes of translations from Calderon, to which I have already
referred; and, besides this, he has rendered excellent service to the
cause of Spanish literature in other ways. But in the present volume he
has far surpassed all he had previously done; for Calderon is a poet
who, whenever he is translated, should have his very excesses, both in
thought and manner, fully produced, in order to give a faithful idea of
what is grandest and most distinctive in his genius. Mr. M'Carthy has
done this, I conceive, to a degree which I had previously considered
impossible. Nothing, I think, in the English language will give us so
true an impression of what is most characteristic of the Spanish drama;
perhaps I ought to say, of what is most characteristic of Spanish poetry
generally".--tom. iii. pp. 461, 462.
Extracts from Continental Reviews.
From "Blaeater fuer Literarische Unterhaltung". 1862. Erster Baude,
479 Leipzig, F. A. Brockhans.
"Erwaehnenswerth ist folgender Kuehne versuch einer Rachdildung
Calderon' scher stuecke in Englishchen Assonanzen.
"Love, the greatest enchantment; The Sorceries of Sin; The Devotion of
the Cross, from the Spanish of Calderon, attempted strictly in English
Asonante, and other imitative verse. By Denis Florence Mac-Carthy".
Diese Uebersetzung ist dem Verfasser der "History of Spanish
Literature", George Ticknor, zugeeignet, der in einem Schreiber au den
Uebersetzer die Arbeit "marvellous" nennt und dam fortfaehrt:
"Richt das sie die Assonanzen dem englischen Ohr so hoerbar gemacht
haetten, wie dies mit den Spanischen der Fall ist; unsere widerhaarigen
consonanten machen dies unmoeglich; das Wunderbare ist nur, das sie
dieselben ueberhaupt hoerbar gemacht haben. Meiner Meinung nach nehme
ist Ihre Assonanzen so deutlich wahr, wil die Von August Schlegel oder
Gries und mehr als diejenigen Friedrich Schlegel's. Aber dieser war der
erste, der den versuch dazu machte, und ausserdem bin ich Kein
Deutscher. Wurde es nicht lustig sein, wenn man einmal ein solches
Experiment in franzoeschicher Sprache wolte?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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