> 
> Having spent a couple of weeks in a hopeless attempt to translate the poem (**could anyone have expected** that it would hide such a subtle subtext?), I gave up. 
> 
> 
> 

Can we use "could" instead of "could have"? 

> 
> Having spent a couple of weeks in a hopeless attempt to translate the poem (**could anyone expect** that it would hide such a subtle subtext?), I gave up.
> 
> 
> 

Will this sentence look strange due to this phrase, or are both variants more or less equal in meaning?