Translating lines from Baudelaire is both an engaging hobby and an absurd one. It may put one in touch with the untranslatability of poetry, and with the fact that even our understandings of our best friends’ words are adaptations at best, and not infrequently misreadings. (The phrase “close enough” comes to mind, and we might imagine a friend or lover answering, in the heat of a battle, “Not close enough!”)

Categories: ZiR • Tags: Baudelaire, French, poetry, translation