Analysis of Poetry in Translation: The Textual and Extra-textual Approaches to the Persian and English Versions of Poem by Hafez in Contrast

The translator, traitor is a motto that is believed by many to be true, not mentioning poetic translation, the one area too divine to be touched for literary enthusiasts, or more specifically, poetic enthusiasts. Poetry is what gets lost in translation , Robert Frost, American poet and critic, once says. The analysis of poetry brings up questions that are normally not asked when analyzing prose, at least not in the case of descriptive prose. This study is originated in the analysis of translated poetry and touches on controversial issues which cause the difficulties and challenges of translating poetry such as: transferring the ST words, meaning, flow and rhythm or rhyme to the TT on one hand and social and cultural matters that are crucial in the process of translation on the other hand, which needs a good poetic translator to be a good mediator between the two languages and cultures too. In the present study, a Persian piece of poetry by the Iranian poet, Hafez and its English translations by two translators, Clarke and SHahriar SHahriari, will be focused upon and descriptively analyzed at both textual and extra-textual levels based on Vahid's (2000) proposed model for poetry appreciation and translation process.

Keywords:

Literary translation , Poetry , Textual analysis , Extra-textual analysis