> Apologies to all for this. Just can't help myself,
> but Carrol referred to one of my all time heroes,
> and so here, for your reading pleasure is his epitaph,
> poetically translated from Latin by Yeats.
>
> Swift has sailed into his rest.
> Savage indignation there
> cannot lacerate his breast.
> Imitate him if you dare,
> world-besotted traveller.
> He served human liberty.
The Latin (composed by Swift himself) is pretty damn good too. Yeats supplied the 'sailed into his rest' and the 'world-besotted' part -- not that there's anything wrong with that.
I always think the line breaks on lapidary inscriptions matter:
Hic depositum est corpus Jonathan Swift STD Huius ecclesiae cathedralis Decani Ubi saeva indignatio Ulterius Cor lacerare nequit. Abi viator Et imitare, si poteris, Strenuum pro virili Libertatis vindicatorem.
'Savage' is a correct enough translation of 'saeva' but doesn't quite capture its force in Latin. And Yeats left out 'strenuum pro virili' -- something like 'striving to the limit of his strength'. Modest and yet not. Vindicator is stronger than 'served', 'si poteris' is 'if you should prove to be up to it' rather than 'if you dare', etc.
But I have no quarrel with Yeats on this one. He did the old boy proud. As translations go, it's first-class and then some.
I spent some time in my younger days studying in Dublin. The first day I was there I went to St Patrick's to pay my respects to old Dean Swift. The tablet with this inscription stands, as I recall, right above the door where you enter. I hadn't seen it on my way in and prowled around the cathedral wondering where he was. Finally saw it on my way out. Stood there transfixed and then wept like a baby. Partly jet lag, no doubt, and partly not.
The Irish folks took a dim view. Public displays of emotion are not well thought of there.
-- --
Michael J. Smith mjs at smithbowen.net
http://stopmebeforeivoteagain.org http://www.cars-suck.org http://fakesprogress.blogspot.com
"I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President, and I think I will go along with them."
-- Barack Obama
(Okay, okay, it was really Calvin Coolidge.)