Title: A Servicable Translation
Product review: There are many things to like in Heaney's Beowulf, not least the format of the book itself - the original text and Heaney's translation are printed on facing pages. Heaney's translation is mostly accurate, clear and readable, except for a few "Irishisms" that may baffle the American reader.Oddly enough, since Heaney is himself a major poet, I find this translation a bit lacking in poetry, a bit - dare I say it - flat. Heaney keeps the sense and muscular line of the original, but - and here is where I think he goes wrong - he forces the alliteration. In the original, alliteration stirs the blood and slaps you in the face. In translation, Heaney's alliteration is too often weak, and - a far worse sin - too often lowers his diction to the level of the commonplace.Poetry is, of course, impossible to translate. Heaney has made, if not the best, at least a creditable effort, of an impossible job. As such, he deserves our respect and our thanks.
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