By: Alicia (AE)

Alicia (AE) — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 13:05:43 +0000

Thanks for the comments…
I confess I am not at all well-versed in Basil Bunting, though clearly from these posts I need to be! I must check out the Lucretius passages! Maybe while I am Stateside I can pick some up some of his work.
Lucy Hutchinson’s translation is remarkable in many ways. Well, for one thing, it is probably the very first translation into English of the whole poem (though it was never published–that is until Hugh de Quehen’s edition in 1996); she had no previous translations to guide her, and none of the commentaries or editions we have now. Her Latinity must have been superb. Her translation and interpretation of the poem is remarkably accurate, clear (no mean trick) and lively (into rough-shod pre-Augustan heroic couplets). Her reasons for doing it are interesting to–to understand many things she heard talked of at second hand. Specifically, it was the materialist argument against Providence and Predestination–that Lucretian swerve of Free Will–which were at the heart of her Puritanism. It would be like a Christian fundamentalist today determining to read and maybe do a thesis on the works of Charles Darwin (and also, say, Dawkins), so as fully to understand the argument against Intelligent Design (something Lucretius attacks too, by the way). It was dangerous territory in that sense, for Lucretius is a passionate and persuasive adversary. And of course the poem also contains all kinds of graphic sexual passages too–those she obviously read, but omits translating, as such subjects were “more fitting for a midwife” than a gentlewoman.
Not only was it not the kind of intellectual endeavour expected of women then, it occurs to me that it is really still pretty rare nowadays. It always seems to be male poets tackling translation of the major epics (Homer, Virgil, Dante–though there at least we have Dorothy Sayers). Why is that? I didn’t realize or think about that setting out, but it did occur to me halfway through that there weren’t a lot of women in this particular field. It was really nice then to think that the first person to english Lucretius was a woman–it felt like a certain companionship. I love the description she gives (from her dedication) of working on the project:
“for I turned it into English in a roome where my children practizd the severall quallities they were taught with their Tutors, and I numbred the sillables of my translation by the threads of the canvas I wrought in, and sett them downe with a pen and inke that stood by me.”
I love the fact she is doing this in the same room with her children (imagine the distractions), while engaged in domestic tasks–that really rang a bell with me as a poet/mother/scholar who works at home!

By: Bob Clawson

Bob Clawson — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 18:21:48 +0000

I recently checked out “ever.” The OED said “origin unknown.”
Bob

By: Don Share

Don Share — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 18:07:24 +0000

Alicia, I can’t wait to see your Lucretius. A few years ago I read the version by the fascinating Mrs. Lucy Hutchinson (1620–1681), whose Order and Disorder is possibly the first epic written in the English language by a woman – and wonder if you had a look at hers.
We’ve been talking about Bunting on a few of these threads, and intriguingly, Basil Bunting’s work is also infused by De rerum natura ~ “Attis: or, Something Missing,” “Briggflatts,” and “Darling of Gods and Men, beneath the gliding stars” particularly!

By: Ange

Ange — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:14:40 +0000

I read Lucretius in college (in translation of course — I had two years of Greek, but no Latin, to my everlasting regret!) and remember only “the Lucretian swerve.” I look forward to revisiting it when your translation comes out. I thought I liked etymologies, but you really have them at your fingertips, you lucky lady.
I also got “Women’s Work” from the library on your recommendation, and it is just astounding. I’m going to get a taste for archeology. Of course, not everyone writes as well as Barber…

Comments on: The Nose Knows

By: Alicia (AE)

By: Bob Clawson

By: Don Share

By: Ange