I've stepped away without rancor, and in expectation of returning one day.
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Hello. My name is Phil. I live in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
My interests include the history and structure of board games, verse, and kathā (tales from India). My more recent rampages include attempts to unify the presentation of Shakespeare's Sonnets, to aid the formatting of foreign passages with English translations, and (the work of a lifetime) to ensure that all verse quotes are cited (as required by WP:V) and formatted acceptably (especially avoiding "indenting colons" per MOS:INDENTGAP).
Awards
edit| The Literary Barnstar | ||
| Seeing as how I can't do much to help you get a , I figured I could at least give you this well–deserved literary barnstar as a token of appreciation for all your great contributions to our coverage of Dickinson, Chaucer, and others. INeverCry 17:41, 2 April 2013 (UTC) |
| The Original Barnstar | ||
| For attention to the formatting of verse Alarichall (talk) 21:07, 28 August 2016 (UTC) |
Formal equivalent verse
editThere is a general consensus on the English Wikipedia that illustrative English translations of foreign-language poetry must always be as literal as possible. Form, tone, literary quality or influence be damned. This ratifies the idea that poets are notable for what they say, not how they say it, when the truth is more often the reverse. It also perversely discourages the inclusion of professional, even culturally significant, translations (which often wickedly reach past lexical blamelessness to grasp at aesthetic value), encouraging instead ad hoc translations by Wikipedians. I admit that, in this community (or any), it must surely be easier to end a conflict by deferring to literalness than to taste. Well, I don't agree with this mindset, but I'm not gonna fight it. However, when the purpose of the verse quotation is to illustrate some formal feature of verse, then dogged literalism defeats the very rationale for its inclusion. Therefore, in these cases, formal equivalent verse paraphrases should be supplied: reflecting, as faithfully as possible in English, all formal features that are germane in the given context. Literalness is of course still desirable, but of secondary importance here. Just as published translations may be deemed insufficiently literal, frequently they are insufficiently formally equivalent to serve these illustrative purposes. So over the years I have had occasion to supply a few such formal equivalents, which, out of vanity, I list below.
| Original incipit | English incipit | Author | For article |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vietnamese: Trăm năm trong cõi người ta | A century of life | Nguyễn Du | Vietnamese poetry#Lục bát & Lục bát |
| Polish: Z twej śmierci | With thy death | Sebastian Grabowiecki | Sebastian Grabowiecki |
| Polish: Moja wdzięczna Orszulo | My Ursula, so charming | Jan Kochanowski | Polish alexandrine |
| Czech: V jezeru zeleném | Emerald, ivory | Karel Hynek Mácha | Czech alexandrine |
| Czech: Chaos! Chaos! | Chaos! Chaos! | Jaroslav Vrchlický | Spenserian stanza (with Anagram16) |
| French: Nous partîmes cinq cents | As five hundred we left | Pierre Corneille | French alexandrine & Heroic verse |
| French: La très-chère était nue | My most darling was bare | Charles Baudelaire | French alexandrine |
| French: J'ai disloqué | I dislocate | Victor Hugo | French alexandrine |
| Czech: Z hlubin města | Out from cities | Jaroslav Vrchlický | (with Anagram16) not in mainspace |
| Polish: Umarły jeszcze | Your death cannot diminish | Adam Asnyk | (with Anagram16) not in mainspace |
| Polish: Nieszczęściu kwoli | Since my misfortunes | Jan Kochanowski | Sapphic stanza in Polish poetry (with Anagram16) |
| Persian: زلف آشفته, romanized: zol-'āšofte-vo | Hair a right mess | Hafez | (based on Kanjuzi's literal translation) not in mainspace |
| Thai: เสียงฦๅเสียงเล่าอ้าง | So many rumors | anon (Lilit Phra Lo) | Lilit Phra Lo#Meter |
| Italian: Mentr'era per cantare | While your delightful gifts | Giovanni di Bernardo Rucellai | Hendecasyllable (based on Leigh Hunt's translation) |
| Polish: Ktokolwiek będziesz | Visitor passing | Adam Mickiewicz | Hendecasyllable |
| Latin: Cui dono lepidum | To whom dedicate | Catullus | Hendecasyllable |
| Ancient Greek: φαίνεταί μοι, romanized: phaínetaí moi | He, it seems to me | Sappho | Hendecasyllable & Sapphic stanza |
| Latin: Talibus armis | Furnished with all | anon (Carmen Campidoctoris) | Sapphic stanza |
| Vietnamese: Gió đập cành đa | Wind smacks the banyan trees | anon | Vietnamese poetry#Ca dao (loose imitation, with Lachy70) |
| Vietnamese: Yêu nhau cau | In love, we'll split | anon | Vietnamese poetry#Poetic riddles (with Lachy70) |
Tips n tails
edit- Handy links
- Help:Table — Copy & Paste Excel-to-Wiki — MediaWiki Tables Generator — {{citation}} — WP:CS1
| Page | Destination | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| sandbox1 | Robert Bridges | Replacement for current "Personal and professional life" and "Literary work" sections |
| sandbox2 | Pachisi | Comparative table of rules |
| sandbox3 | Monospacing tests | |
| sandbox4 | Caesura | Notes on types of breaks |
| sandbox5 | Iambic Pentameter? | Conflicting theories |
| sandbox6 | ||
| sandbox7 |
User:Phil wink/Translation workshop