Giovanni Boccaccio. Teseida in the original Medieval Italian circa 1340-1341
1
O sorelle Castalie, che nel monte Elicona contente dimorate dintorno al sacro gorgonèo fonte sottesso l’ombra delle fiondi amate da Febo, delle quali ancor la fronte spero d’ornarmi sol che ’l concediate, le sante orecchi a’ miei prieghi porgete e quelli udite come voi dovete.
My Prose Translation:
1
Castalian Sisters who inhabit joyfully Mount Helicon around the Gorgonean fountain, beneath the shadows of those boughs which Apollo dearly loves, and with which I aspire to decorate my head, if only you would grant it: incline your holy ears to my prayers, and heed them as you wish.
-----
This is one version of the story I am basing my novel on. I am currently working on a prose translation of this book because of its current inaccessibility in English, and because I believe it is better than either Shakespeare or Chaucer's version. Follow the process here, and PLEASE comment if you want to try another way of translating. I am aiming for this version to be the most reader friendly and accurate version I can. While it is in prose, poetic turns are very welcome to help express the music of it.
Hey bud,
ReplyDeleteThe only real translations are half translation and half translator. But as a sculptor I've always liked raw form better than scholarship. And as an Italian. But just think this, kid: if someone reads this thing and doesn't think "Crowley and Boccaccio made something special together" then what's the point?
- Marco Cuoracanti