On Translating Blaže Koneski

Blaže Koneski (1921–1993) was born in the small village of Nebregovo, Macedonia. His contributions as a scholar, linguist, academic, poet, fiction writer, and translator were foundational in the development of Modern Macedonian literature. Koneski was involved in standardizing the literary language of Macedonia, and published the first textbooks on Modern Macedonian grammar in the fifties, as well as the influential The History of the Macedonian Language in 1965.

Koneski’s poetics marked a shift from traditional folksong forms, but retained folklore motifs. Indeed, it’s what draws me most to this poetry. We see this in “Peppers,” a joyful, poignant, and pastoral lyric. The pepper is more than a local crop. It’s a symbol of tradition. The pepper is sowed in lives, in customs. The original Macedonian poem is straightforward and conversational, but very musical. “Peppers” does not have a structured meter, but because accents in Macedonian words are placed on the third from last syllable, a natural interplay between dactyl and trochee meters are very common, even in conversation. My English version retains some of these rhythms: “We heap them in bushels in the bazar./We eat them with salads, straight from the pan,” and, “Autumn will come with its charms.” Although I never seek to fully replicate the original meters of Macedonian verse, my English versions often feature complex rhythms to mimic the sound of Macedonian.

My translation of “Swallows” was inspired by Anne Pennington’s translation. Koneski’s poem is originally one block of free verse composed of ten lines, but Pennington separates the poem into four stanzas with a total of twelve lines. Koneski’s poem features dialogue from the swallows, which I mark through italics. Like Pennington, I break the poem into separate stanzas to emphasize the words of the swallows.

A notable feature of the Pennington translations is erasure. Her English versions are stripped down: they do not mirror the rhythmic complexity of Macedonian, nor does she faithfully replicate Koneski’s images; she even omits some of Koneski’s lines. The result is a modern lyrical style that breaks down grammar and syntax—an E.E. Cummings rendition of Koneski. But Koneski is more in the tradition of Yeats or Lorca. I break from Pennington’s approach in that my version of “Swallows” is composed of complete sentences, since Koneski’s original is not fragmented.