Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Group 3: Andy B., Henrik E., Katherine S., Kayla W., Mattis J.

Please select comments and follow the Letter Guidelines for your posts to the exchange.

17 comments:

Katherine S. said...

Dear Group,

My name is Katherine and I am a freshman English major at Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina. This letter project is part of my World Lit class.

The poem I chose to focus on was the first, “Track” or “Tracks.” In Robert Bly’s translation, he uses “flickering” to describe the light from the distant town, while May Swenson uses the word “twinkle.” “Flickering” gives a more eerie impression, as of a light about to go out. It also gives a feeling of uncertainty. Before this, Bly also uses the phrase “far off sparks” to describe the lights, which also adds to the impression of fading away. “Twinkle” is a much friendlier, warm word, and implies a feeling of hopefulness or joy. Swenson uses the phrase “distant bright points,” which also adds to the warm hopeful feel. In this poem, the use of the two different words can convey two different attitudes: one of uncertainty towards the town and one of the town’s lights being a welcoming sight.

Secondly, in the last stanza, Bly uses the phrase “is entirely motionless” to describe the train, while Swenson uses “stands perfectly still.” The second usage makes it seem as if the train is a living being capable of moving, but at this moment in time is not. Bly’s phrase, on the other hand, gives more of the impression that the train is only capable of moving under the influence of another force. Swenson’s use gives a more personal feel to the train, which fits with the poem as a whole.

Also in the last stanza, the two poems differ in the word used to describe the moonlight. Bly uses the word “strong” while Swenson uses “full.” “Full” indicates that perhaps the moon itself is full, lighting up the entire plain completely. This seems to match with the “friendly” use of “twinkle” repeated throughout this translation of the poem. “Strong,” while still implying bright light, does not give the same impression of completeness as “full.” Overall, Bly’s translation feels colder and less personal than Swenson’s.

A possible theme I found in the poem was one of distance, both physically and mentally, with the lines about “all his former days become twinkling points, a swarm, cold and feeble on the horizon.”

Henrik E. said...

Hello everybody!
My name is Henrik Engman and I’m 25 years old. I’m living in Gothenburg and I’m doing my third year on the Computer Engineering programme at Chalmers University of Technology. My major academic interests are programming and digital electronics.

I’m not really used to reading poetry but I have a great experience of poetry. This experience was when I got the opportunity to visit a lecture of the Swedish poet Bob Hansson. Hansson is often very funny and provoking in his poems which I think is a reason why he attracts a younger crowd who usually are not that in to poetry.

Enough with the presentation and now over to the discussion of the poem.

I’ve choosed to concentrate on ”Andrum: Juli”. In the original version of this poem he uses the word ”swe: mage” ”eng: stomach/gut/abdomen” when he describes where the stones are placed in the dock. In two of the translations the translator has also choosed to use this word but in the other two they have choose not to. I can’t really explain why but i like the translations where they use the stomach reference better perhaps because they aren’t as straight forward which leaves more room for your own interpretation.

A phrase that I find puzzling is the use of the phrase ”sits in a catapult seat released in ultra-rapid” in the poem ”Breathing Room: July”. Tranströmer uses it in the original version aswell so it’s not that I get puzzled by the translation. But I find it hard to grasp what feeling Tranströmer wants to project on the reader by using this phrase. It mostly makes me confused.

The way how Robert Bly chooses to describe the man standing on the dock is quite different from the other translations. ”The man who stands down at the dock screws up his eyes again”. He doesn’t mention that the man is looking at the water and the phrase ”screw up” is to me very different to squinting. This translation of the text doesn’t give me a as clear picture of the scene as the other translations does.

A theme that i sense in the poem is the feeling of tranquility. A man lying beneath a tree and gets swept away by just looking at the foliage or a man standing on a dock gazing out on the ocean.

Mattis J. said...

Hello everyone!

My name is Mattis and I am in the Computer Science and Engineering programme at Chalmers. For my analysis I have chosen to focus on my impressions of the poem called "Spår"/"Track(s)" and how the original and the translations differ.

I have chosen the keywords solitude, "fevery dream" and "open space". Imagine yourself, at night, on a train standing still in the middle of a great open space. You are sitting in a compartment surrounded by people, but in the dark you cannot see their faces. Tired after a hard day's work, or just because it is 2 am; you have entered some kind of disoriented, dreamlike and almost fevery state of mind. Through your window you can see spots of light, tinkling in the distance; making you realise your own insignificance as compared to the Universe inducing a feeling of complete solitude.

Now, about the translations... Translating a poem (I guess) is the problem of conveying the feel and message of the original poem while sticking to the idioms and rules of the target language.

The translation by Swenson says "[...] when he returns again to his view"; suggesting the return to consciousness from for example a day dream. This differs from the original as well as the translation by Bly: "[...] when he comes back to his room" from which I get the impression of waking up in your bed after a dream.

An obvious example of how discrepancies arise when translating is how "människa" (literally "human being") in the "dream"-part becomes "man" in Swenson's translation, thus implying male gender as opposed to the Swedish language idiom in which "människa" is female. On the other hand in the "And as when someone goes into a sickness so deep[...]"-part Tranströmer's original says "att allt som var hans dagar blir några flimrande[...]" ("han" meaning "him"); thus male gendered, implies being distinct to the aforementioned dream. In this sense both of the translations are inconsistent.

Common denominators for all three Tranströmer poems are nature and the feeling of loneliness.

Kayla W said...

Dear Group,
Hi, I am Kayla and I am a freshman at Clemson University. Although I enjoy English, I am planning on majoring in communication studies with hopes of working in public relations. The poems I decided to look at were “Track” and “Tracks.” Both of these poems were translations from the original poem by Tomas Transtromer. This poem speaks about how one feels in a situation of extreme solitude and isolation and compares it to the feeling that one would feel when they are sick. After reading the two translations there are very obvious similarities, as well as differences in word choice that gives each poem its distinct feeling. The first difference I noticed was the slight change in the title. The first poem is simply named “Track,” whereas the second one is plural being named “Tracks.” The purpose in naming the title of the first poem “Track” instead of “Tracks,” may be to emphasize the solitude and total isolation this poem possesses and speaks about. The second poem’s plural title can give the reader the idea of more options to view the poem, as well as not giving off a total feel of complete isolation.
Another major difference in themes I noticed was the formality the second poem possessed compared to the first. That was very apparent to me in the first line of the poem where it says “Night, two o’clock: moonlight” compared to the first line of the first translation, “2 A.M. moonlight.” The translator’s simple choice in choosing to let the reader know it was two o’clock in the morning by starting with night already gives off a formal tone rather than the more relaxed tone that Robert Bly starts with. The laid back tone in Robert Bly’s translations continues in the second line by simply stating that the train stopped “out in a field” whereas in May Swenson’s translation says “the train has stopped in the middle of the plain.” The continuing word choice by May Swenson, such as twinkle rather than flickering and starting two of the stanzas with “And as when…” also, in my opinion, makes the reading and understanding of the poem more difficult. The first translation is very straightforward, the choice of words are easy to understand allowing the poem as a whole to be read and clearly understood.

Andy B. said...

Hi Everyone! My name is Andy and I am a freshman English major at Clemson University. I’m taking English 212 World Literature, which is the class that I am doing this project for. I do not have very much experience with poetry, but I will certainly try my best to sound like I know what I am talking about. Cheers!

I decided to focus on Spår/Track(s). The first translation by Robert Bly is more ambiguous in that it describes the train as having “stopped out in a field.” The second translation by May Swenson is more descriptive because it says, “the train has stopped in the middle of the plain. This at least gives us some sort of direction with the use of the word “middle.” It’s more defined and its location is not as vague.

The next sentence builds off the idea of vagueness in that the first translation casts doubt on whether the lights from the town really exist and the second translation makes it seem like the lights are definitely there. Bly writes, “Far off sparks of light from a town,” while Swenson writes, “Distant bright points of a town.” Sparks of light is less definite than bright points. I think of sparks as appearing one second and then disappearing the next. A bright point sounds more enduring. This shows the difference between the two translations in that one is more vague than the other on where the train is located and if the lights from the town actually exist.

The last thing I noticed was in line 8 where the first translation says, “that his days all become some flickering sparks,” and the second translation says, “that all his former days become twinkling points.” The main difference between the two is that the second translation uses the word “former” to describe his days whereas the first one does not. I think this changes the way you view the sick person’s memory. The first one makes it seem like his current days are just flickering sparks, and he is so sick that he doesn’t really know what is going on anymore. The second one makes it seem like all of his previous memories are somewhat fading and blending together.

I think one of the main themes from this poem is isolation because this train is stopped in the middle of nowhere with very little nearby, and when you dream, it’s only you and no one else. Also, it says that there are “few stars,” which sounds very isolated since it is such a big sky.

Henrik E. said...

Letter 2
Hello again Everyone! It's Henrik from Sweden again.

I would first like to address Katherine S. thoughts about how the translator chooses to describe a train with no motion. I agree that Swenson’s translation is more inline with the feel of the poem. This might be because it is a more straight forward or word by word translation of the original version. In the original version Tranströmer writes ”Tåget står fullkomligt stilla”. If you translate this phrase word by word the english translation will be ”The train stands perfectly still” just as Swenson has translated it. A justification to why Bly‘s translation differs may be because as Kayla W. noted in her first letter that he tries to keep a more formal tone in his translation and to me this sounds more formal then Swensons translation.

As a short response to Kaylas note about the different translations of the title I thought that i would just point out that the Swedish word ”spår” is like the english word ”sheep”. What I mean is that it is the same both in plural and singular. This might be a reason for the different translations. For me the translation track seems best suited since it goes more in line with the general feeling of the poem.

Im going to end this response with saying that I also agree with the general theme of loneliness/isolation as Mattis and Andy points out. There are numerous occasions in the ”Spår” poem as already pointed out and also in ”Andrum: Juli” the poem which i chosed to focus on for example ”Who lies on his back under the high trees is also there”. It could be a person with friends around him lying under a tree but it is not the first thing that comes to mind. When you continue to read about the person feeling that he is one with the the tree this also points to a person that is lying alone and daydreams.

Have a good Holiday everyone! Looking forward to continue the discussion after Easter.

Mattis J. said...

Letter 2.
Hi again everybody!

Looking at the other comments I see there is a consensus on the feeling of isolation/loneliness in the poem. Reading your comments also made me realise I had missed some of the difference in nuance in the two translations. This is probably something which is more obvious for native speakers.

As Katherine points out, the choice between "twinkle" and "flickering" does alter the feeling of the poem. The Swedish word in the original is "flimrande", which translates into "flickering" in English. I guess this fits well with the general coldness of the poem. As Henrik stated, "The train stands perfectly still" is a very direct translation of "Tåget står fullkomligt stilla". This wording, however, is just a simple statement of whether the train is currently moving or not with no extra connotations, so the exact translation is less important; thus leaving some freedom to the translator.

Andy: "att allt som var hans dagar blir några flimrande ljuspunkter" matches "that his days all become some flickering sparks" very precisely. I think there is some ambiguity as to whether this refers to his former days or just the days during his sickness, as at least in Swedish it could have both interpretations. I am not sure whether I agree with you on "in the middle of the plain" being more descriptive than "in a field". A plain usually extends over a wide area; a field does not necessarily. Also being "in the middle" in this context only means not being close to the edges. Now, enough with the nitpicking :-). Anyway, the original says "slätten" which literally means "the plain" in English.

I concur with Henrik on wishing everyone a nice holiday. I am looking forward to reading your responses.

Katherine S. said...

Letter 2

Hey everyone!
I really enjoyed how Henrik and Mattis pointed out how the literal translations match up with one or another of the translations by Robert Bly or May Swenson. Since I definitely don’t speak Swedish, all I can see is the difference in the translations, and it is really interesting to see which one lines up better with the Swedish!

Henrik discussed the poem “Breathing Room: July,” and I too found the phrase “sits in a catapult seat released in ultra-rapid” to be hard to understand. The image I get is of a person flying through the air, which does not seem to match up with the other tranquil images presented in the poem.

Like everyone else, I noticed the theme of loneliness and isolation in “Track/Tracks.” I especially liked Mattis’ description of someone riding home from work, late at night on the train, not able to see your companions’ faces and feeling as if you are only a tiny speck in the universe. I think titling the poem “Track” indicates a single solitary track, which adds to that general theme more than “Tracks” in the plural.

I agree with Kayla about Robert Bly’s translation being more straightforward and easy to understand. I hadn’t really thought about that aspect as much on my first readings, but now that she has pointed it out I can see it!

I also liked Andy’s pointing out of the difference created in the two poems by the use of “former” in the phrase “his former days become twinkling sparks.” When “former” is used it makes it seem like only the subject’s memories are vague, but without “former” it seems as if his current days have no meaning and do not stick in his mind. I think the omission of “former” makes the subject’s circumstances sound even more isolated and lonely, which contributes to our general theme.

Have a fantastic holiday! 

Kayla W said...

Hello again to everyone!
After reading everyone’s first responses I definitely saw the trend of people choosing to discuss “Track” or “Tracks” and the conclusion of the sense of solitude and loneliness. I really enjoyed reading about Katherine’s observation on the use of the words flickering and twinkle. Although I did not ever notice the logistics behind the different words when I first read through the poems, I can definitely see the reasons why choosing two different words would be logical. I do agree with Katherine’s point that these words convey two different attitudes for the poem, and this being in the first stanza sets up the tone for the rest of the poem.
Matti’s translation of the words “fevery dream” and “open space” were very interesting to read and I really enjoyed his visualization he included with it. While reading both of these translations I pondered the lines about going so deep into a dream and the “sickness” one may feel from the extreme sense of solitude. I thought Matti did an excellent job in breaking these stanzas down into a picture that one can easily visualize and gain a sense of what the poet was trying to accomplish. His comment on realizing one’s insignificance in such a big world inducing solitude is exactly what I think the poem is trying to accomplish.
Commenting on Andy’s post was something I also noticed when reading through the translations of “Track(s).” Andy talks about how Robert Bly’s translation is a lot more ambiguous than May Swenson’s. That was something I noticed as well in more than one area. I thought in exemplifying the ambiguity that Bly’s translation has by using the line of where the train stops was successful. Swenson’s detail in saying the train has stopped in the middle of the field, although it does not say where the field is, is a lot more detailed than Bly’s “stopped out in a field.”


P.S. Sorry this is so late, I didn't realize it didn't post on the original due date until I received an email today!

Andy B. said...

Letter #2

Hey everyone!

Katherine: Based on your interpretation of the difference between “flickering” and “twinkling,” which I agree with, I think Spår/Track(s) has a warmer and less isolated feeling associated with it when the word “twinkling” is used. Since some of the commonly talked about themes are isolation and loneliness, I think “twinkling” makes the poem seem more positive and not so alone because “twinkling” feels friendlier like Katherine said. I think “flickering” contributes to the feeling of loneliness because it’s not as certain and doesn’t give off the same sense of hope that “twinkling” does. Like Katherine said, “twinkling” also gives off a sense of welcoming from the town, which makes it seem more positive in that the environment isn’t so isolated since there is a welcoming presence nearby.

Kayla: I like how you brought up the difference in formality between the two poems. You said that the one translation by May Swenson made the poem seem more uncertain and difficult to read. I think that the uncertainty expressed in that translation contributes to the feeling of uncertainty and isolation in the poem because it goes hand in hand with the uncertainty on whether the lights from the village are welcoming or not. The overall theme of the poem is one of isolation and loneliness, so whether the translator made the translation uncertain and difficult to read on purpose is unclear, but I would say that it definitely contributes to the way you read the poem by enhancing those feelings of isolation. The more laid back translation by Robert Bly makes the town seem more welcoming just by the ease at which this translation is read. It’s very interesting how the formality of the translations can so easily affect the reader’s attitude toward the poem’s themes.

Katherine S. said...

Hey everyone!

Overall, I think this poetry project helped me in my understanding of the poems we were assigned to read. Getting to see everyone’s perspectives and reading their interpretations especially helped me to get a clearer sense of the meaning and theme of the poem “Track(s).” What was most interesting to me as an English speaker was learning the literal translations of the Swedish words, which sometimes gave entirely different nuances to a word. These ever so slight changes often gave new insight into the meaning of the poem and generally added to the theme that we had found. All of us seemed to pick up on the same general themes of the poem, which were loneliness and isolation, and I liked seeing how each of us contributed to the general discussion of the various details that demonstrated that theme. I enjoyed getting to interact with several different people when discussing the poems and I would have liked to have been able to maybe do a bit more, like selecting another poem and all of us collaborating on that one next. “Track(s)” was one of the easier poems to understand, which is why I chose it as my personal reflection, but I think that if we had had a group discussion on some of the others, like “Breathing Room: July,” that would have been helpful as well. Of course, since we only had a limited time, it was much easier to just focus on one poem for this project. 

I chose this particular picture as my visual representation because to me it seemed to be a lot similar to what was described in the poem. Even though the picture was not taken at night, this photograph looks like it was taken when it was getting close to sunset. The single solitary track runs through the middle of a field exactly as in the poem. On all sides there is nothing but grass, with distant trees on the horizon. There is nothing really near the track except for the electricity towers, and one can easily get the sense of being out in the middle of nowhere with no one else nearby. Because the theme of “Track(s)” is isolation and loneliness, I think this picture adequately represents those ideas. Although this picture seems a bit friendlier than the rather sad image conveyed in the poem, the idea of solitude is clearly conveyed.

Henrik E. said...

Letter 3
Hello everyone hope you have had a great easter and now its time for the poetry slam again.

Katherine S. commented on my thoughts about the catapult chair in the poem ”breathing: room July”. I agree with you that this is a very clear break of the tranquil feeling of the poem. It continues to puzzle me why tranströmer chooses to use such an eccentric word for movement.

Andy B. points out that flickering is more suitable to use than twinkling since it goes more inline with the feeling of loneliness, isolation and twinkle is interpreted as a more positive word which I totally agree on. The word flickering makes me think of some empty room with an old Fluorescent lamp that needs to be changed.

Mattis commented on Andy’s thoughts about the difference between "that his days all become some flickering sparks" and “that all his former days become twinkling points.”. I agree with him that Bly’s interpretation without the use of the word former gives the same ambiguity that exists in the original version. However I like Swenson’s version when she uses the word ”former”. I can’t really pin point why that is but perhaps because it is more direct.

I think that this project have helped me understand the poem ”Tracks/Spår” better however I feel that it would have been easier to write some contributing comments if not everyone had choosed the same poem. I feel that if we had been able to comment on all three poems we would have got a deeper insight in Tranströmer as a poet and could have drawn parallels between the different poems. At the same time there is an advantage that almost everyone choosed the same poem because then you could really focus on that poem and dig down deep in the interpretation of that single poem. One thing that I’ve discovered is that it isn’t easy to translate a poem. I didn’t find a translation that I thought was better than the other both translations had some good parts and some bad parts. I’m not very good on contradicting people but I feel that it could have been useful for the discussion if more people including myself would have contradicted each other more.

Now to my alternate expression http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyYK5fqfRI4. I have chosen to use the song ”New Dawn Fades” with ”Joy Division”. Since its the song and not the video that is my alternate expression I do recommend you to not look at them just close your eyes and get drawn away by the music instead. For me this song expresses isolation/loneliness. The singers voice sounds very distant and I picture a scene in black and white when I hear this song just as i did reading Tranströmers poems especially.

Looking forward to read all your third letters and experiencing your alternate expression of the poem. I give everyone my best wishes and good luck with your future studies!

Mattis J. said...

Letter #3

Hello again! I hope everyone had a nice spring break.

Henrik and Katherine seem to be a bit confused about "sits in a catapult seat released in ultra-rapid". "Ultra-rapid" is an old way of saying slow motion in Swedish, weird as it may sound. In order to make sense out of this stanza we need to consider it in the context in which it is being used. "Who lies on his back under the high trees//is also there. He rills out into thousands of twigs swaying back and forth". So basically you are lying on your back, observing the crowns of some high trees swaying back and forth in the ocean breeze. If you are dozing off a bit in the summer heat you may very well come under the impression that it is in fact you and not the trees that is moving, and I think this is the idea that the author is trying to convey. This way of telling a story makes me think of the "stream of consciousness" technique used by many modernist authors, for example James Joyce in "Ulysses".

I had not thought very much about the loneliness expressed is "Andrum: Juli", but contrasting with the loneliness in "Spår"/"Tracks", I think that the feeling in the aforementioned poem is much more pleasant. In "Andrum: Juli" it is summer and warm and the sun is shining, whereas in "Spår"/"Tracks" it is night and cold and the lights from a town in the distance actually make the feeling of loneliness even more intense.

I think that this exchange has made me understand these poems in a way that just reading the original in Swedish would not have. Reading the translations gave an opportunity to have a glimpse at how other people have interpreted them, and having native English speakers at your disposal to compare the different translation has been a great resource.

For my alternative expression of "Spår"/"Tracks", I have chosen this YouTube clip with Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 14 (also known as the Moonlight sonata) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XukIPjayKY&feature=related .
I think this piece of music fits very nicely with the setting of the poem. Though very tranquil, the melody has some variation in intensity and letting this represent loneliness; I think that when you see those lights twinkling in the distance is where loneliness strikes you the most and that is also where the music gets more intense.

I wish you great fortune in your lives.

/ Mattis

Andy B. said...

Letter #3

Hi everyone,
I hope you are all doing well.

I really enjoyed doing this exchange. I learned a lot about the differences between translations of poems and some of the difficulties that can arise. It helped that Henrik and Mattis talked about the literal translations of certain words because otherwise I would have taken the translations of the poems as being correct on every word. Knowing that a word can have multiple meanings certainly adds to the ambiguity of the poems and the various possible meanings. I wish that we had more time so that we could spend the same amount of time on every poem. I feel like we did a really good job with Spår/Track(s), since that seems to be the poem that we focused on the most, but I would have liked to have gone over and analyzed the other two poems in just as much detail.

Henrik, Mattis, and Katherine all talked about the difference between “the train is entirely motionless” and “the train stands perfectly still” in Track(s). I agree that the second translation is more formal and that it has a more personal feel. I think that the train, like Katherine said, is capable of moving but is not at this time. If we think of it in this way, it makes the train seem more in control of its isolation. It is as if the train has made a decision to stand perfectly still. While the second translation can be seen in this way, Mattis points out that it does not have any connotations associated with it and is merely the exact translation. This relates back to some of the difficulties with translation and shows that what might not have additional meaning in Swedish does have additional meaning in English. I think this translation gives that line more meaning than it might originally have had and contributes to the idea that the train is either capable of moving or not.

I chose the song “Better Alone” by Carolina Liar for my work of art. They’re one of my favorite bands, and their lead singer is from South Carolina and the rest of the band hails from Sweden, which I thought worked out quite well for obvious reasons. The song itself is about a relationship, but I started thinking about the title and how it relates to the feelings of isolation and loneliness that we discussed. The song is melancholic and contributes to those feelings of loneliness. We all seemed to agree that the train in Track(s) was isolated from everything, but we never brought up if that isolation was maybe necessary or desired. Maybe the train, metaphorically, chose to be alone because it was better for whatever reason. This is just a different way to look at it since we did not pay much attention to if the train was better alone or belonged with the faraway village.

I really enjoyed working with all of you. Good luck with the remainder of the school year!

-Andy

Andy B. said...

I couldn't find a really good version of the song on YouTube so I had to scour the web for a while and finally found this.

http://videos.sapo.pt/j4adVgZMQ5uQRofzlswa

Here is a live version of it on YouTube if you're interested, although the audio quality is not very good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gZXO41Xfcs&feature=PlayList&p=69F3B9DC416EABDB&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=5

Kayla W said...

Hey everyone,
As were finishing up this poetry project I am actually really glad we had this experience. I think it definitely helped me gain a bigger understanding of the meanings beyond these poems. I especially think I learned a lot more through discussing it with not only my own classmates, but reading the interpretations from those of y’all from Sweden was also extremely beneficial. I have never been good at interpreting poetry or finding the meaning behind certain words so this process of hearing others thoughts gave me an insight to the meanings, as well as a start in finding my own interpretations. Learning the actual translations of words from Henrick and Matti, in my opinion, was the most helpful aspects of this process. Assuming I speak for not only myself, but for Katherine and Andy as well, if we had not had the help from Henrick and Matti we would have continued on with our interpretations using mistranslated words. Just as Katherine said, having the literal meanings of these Swedish words gave new insight to the poem as a whole. While I picked “Tracks” to interpret because I thought I already had a good understanding of it, after reading the rest of the group’s interpretations I realized there were a lot more ways to interpret this than I had realized. I think our group did an excellent job of breaking this poem down to a point where not much can be taken out of it. I definitely would not mind doing this project again with a different poem or even another type of literature. I think this is a really good way to get others opinions and insights on a piece of work helping one’s own understanding.
http://stevesalt.us/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/loneliness.jpg
I chose this image for very obvious reasons to accompany our translation of the poem “Track(s).” The solitary tree in the middle of a large field gives me a vision of what the field from the poem may look like, but instead of the tree that would be one solitary train track. Besides the obvious solitary feeling this image gives off, I also noticed the dark colors and the feeling one gets from seeing this. The weather is very gloomy and the solitary tree is accompanied by negative feelings from the colors this painting has. The colors this image has reminded me of “Tracks” because although it is about a night scene, one can get the feeling that the solidity is also from the gloomy feeling the words in the poem project. This image in my opinion conveys the theme of solitude through the lone tree and the colors as well.

Anonymous said...

Photo Responses:

1825367.jpg from Katherine S