[The link to view the structural analysis of the 35 sonnets can be found here]
Being one who believes in the applicability and usefulness of formalist analysis when need be, after becoming familiar with eminent 20th-century poet and firebrand Ezra Pound's 1953 collection of translated poems entitled "Translations", I knew that to understand the brilliance of his translational style I needed to understand the structural organization of his process. I fell in love with his translation of 35 of his short-form sonnets from the Italian poet Guido Cavalcanti, member of the 13/14th century 'Dolce Stil Novo' movement, a close friend and contemporary of the Florentine poet Dante himself, and was of equal importance to Italian literature as well! It's fascinating, after having completed a very brief and informal analysis of the forms of both the Italian and English, that poetically Cavalcanti uses several different types (nine to be exact) of rhyming schemes, although always keeping the end-rhyme form consistent throughout. Because there are nine forms being used by Cavalcanti, delineating them before presenting the 35 themselves is fruitless, so as they all come up in my formalist summary of the sonnets, I will adequately explain what the 'technical' name is and details.
In the English translation provided by Pound, however, it's clear that Pound inserted his artistic and poetic vision into the translation, evidenced by the sheer amount of divergence Pound takes from the actual schemes of Cavalcanti. In places, he eschews rhyming and instead utilizes some type of organizational structure of which I was not able to determine in the little time I am giving myself. Further, in other places it becomes clear that he treats his translational work as a game and his quintessential humor peaks through, especially when slight changes are made hinting at his keen awareness of form and structure while engaged in the process of translation. However, his fidelity to the schemes of the Italian poetry is also apparent, as frequently he will utilize the Italian schemes but flip them around, or pair ones with others from previous sonnets, thereby creating complex networks of structural links and bridges between them. It's also fascinating to note that he only mimics the Italian schemes four times among 35 sonnets, more fascinating being that the scheme for the first two of the (normally) four stanzas use the R/m/M form, of which will be explained soon. What this then implies is Pound's exceptional ability to eschew conventional schematic mimesis and utilize translational liberties while at the same time remaining faithful to the forms the poet uses as to not entirely obfuscate what they had originally intended. I am a bit shocked at how much red there is in the English translations, from 32 down no easily identifiable scheme is used.
In Pound's introduction to the work, he notes the importance of rhythm ("music is...pure rhythm...the variation of pitch is the variation in rhythms of these individual notes"), and his attempt to not only retain but deepen Guido's rhythmic pulse. However, what is fascinating is Pound's purposeful eschewing of rhyming although supplication to it after realizing the detriment of eliminating it entirely from his translations, "I can not trust the reader to read the Italian for the music after he has read the English for the sense". Thus, with this statement it becomes clear that the formalist musicality of the Italian original is both echoed and also removed from the English translation as to provide both a lyrical homage to the original and thematic clarity for the non-Italian reader. There is then a symbiosis between the languages!
The 9 Types of Forms
R | Repetitive [stanza 1 and 2 are the same form, however every other line] |
w/ C | With Connectedness [stays within the stanza itself] |
(or SC) | Stanza Centric [equivalent with C, when rhyming stays within a stanza] |
w/ IC | With Interconnectedness [the two stanzas intertwine] |
3+1/1+3 | Rhymed groupings with 1 line with 2 lines, and 2 lines with one line |
2+1/1+2 | Same as aforementioned but now with 2 |
m/M | Mirror [both in micro (1 stanza) and macro (2 stanza) formats] |
(1/2)(2/1)(3/3) | Usually found in the second-half, the last two stanzas intertwine using nested rhyming schemes, i.e., third stanza/fourth stanza |
(1/3)(2/3)(4/1)(3/2) | Same as aforementioned but the size has been increased |
L | Linkage [this is when every other line rhymes between two stanzas] |
The most common type of first-half rhyming scheme is R/m/M, and this is to say a pattern of rhyming on the first and third lines of the stanza. This ABAB-style scheme can be found in everything from Shakespearian sonnet form [ABAB CDCD EFEF GG] to the Sicilian octave [ABABABAB], and thus is not abnormal in the slightest. However, the usage of the poly-stanza rhyming [the numbered forms] is new to me, and although I'm not sure of the name, the frequency of its usage (usually found in the second-half in Italian and sometimes in the first-half of the English) leads me to believe that it holds importance in Italian poetry. In any case, this little project has proven a edifying experiment and a route to possible research! I hope you enjoy looking at the findings, and I highly recommend that you read the sonnets!
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