Poetry as music
is crafted of rhythmic cadences and word sounds.
And pauses.
The task of translating is to compose a new music,
one that the poets may have found
had they written in the target language.
"An die Sonne," Ingeborg Bachmann, Translation by Leonore Hildebrandt and Tony Brinkley
Lovelier than the moon with its ennobled light,
Lovelier than the stars, renowned medallions of the night,
Lovelier by far than a swift comet’s fire,
Summoned to loveliness—more than any other in the heavens—
Because her days sustain your life and mine—the Sun.
Rilke's Duino Elegies: Fifth Elegy, translation co-authored with Tony Brinkley. Cerise Press. We also comment on translating Rilke.
Rilke's Cemetery by the Sea, translation co-authored with Tony Brinkley. Ezra Translation.