Albert Verwey's translations from Shelley's poetical works. A study of their style and rhythm and a consideration of their value as translations

Abstract

Albert Verwey's translations from Shelley's Poetical Works can be divided into three groups: Early translations (including some of Shelley's lyrics, part of "The Daemon of the World" and a fragment from "Queen Mab") in 1881;"Poems Written in 1816" ("The Sunset", "Hymn to Intellectual Beauty" end "Mont Blanc") translated in 1903; and the two versions of a translation of "Alastor" In 1909 and 1922.In these translations a definite development can be traced, which runs to some extent parallel to that in Verwey's original work. The early translations are still very much in the traditional style of Dutch poetry immediately prior to 1880. The language tends to be stilted and rhetorical, the rhythm regular, even to the point of monotony. These early translations appear to be, to a great extent, experiments in rhythmic and acoustic effect. They are undoubtedly immature renderings of Shelley's poems and ere unworthy of the later Verwey. But they are not without interest, and seen in conjunction with the later translations they form a link, which is not without importance in the development of Verwey's poetry. By 1903 Yerwey's interest in poetry had acquired a new depth. Although still considering rhythmic and acoustic effects of great importance, he was now deeply concerned with a philosophical idea, the development and expression of which was to pervade most of the original work. In this second group of translations Verwey had to seek to understand and re-express Shelley's philosophical thought. In translating "Alastor" in 1909 Verwey was faced with a threefold task: to translate the text; to reproduce the general sound pattern, and also to achieve a sweeping movement similar to that in the original poem. The result, even in the earlier version, was remarkable, end the revised version in 1922 crowned Yerwey's translations from Shelley's Poetical Works.