IsabelKim

LATIN
accipitehancanimammequehisexsolvitecuris.
vixietquemdederatcursumFortunaperegi,
etnuncmagnameisubterrasibitimago.
urbempraeclaramstatui,meamoeniavidi,
655
ultavirumpoenasinimicoafratrerecepi,
felix,heunimiumfelix,silitoratantum
numquamDardaniaetetigissentnostracarinae.'
dixit,etosimpressatoro'moriemurinultae,
sedmoriamur'ait.'sic,siciuvatiresubumbras.
660
hauriathuncoculisignemcrudelisabalto
Dardanus,etnostraesecumferatominamortis.'
dixerat,atqueillammediaintertaliaferro
conlapsamaspiciuntcomites,ensemquecruore
spumantemsparsasquemanus.itclamoradalta
665
atria:concussambacchaturFamaperurbem

ENGLISHTRANSLATION
Acceptthissoulandsetmefreefromthesepains
IhavelivedandIhavegonethecoursethatFortunetransfixed(mewith).
andnowmygreatimagegoesundertheearth
Ihaveerectedashiningcity,Ihaveseenitscitywalls,
Avengingahusband,Ihavetakenpunishmentonahostilebrother.
Happy,excessivelyhappyindeed,(Iwouldhavebeen)ifTrojankeelshad
nottouchedourshores.
Shesaid,andpressingherlipsuponthecouch,saidIwilldie
unavenged,butletmedie.

Thus,thus,Irejoiceingoingundertheshadows.
LetthecruelTrojanseyesdrawupthisfirebythedeep,andwithhim
carrytheomenofmydeath.
Shesaidthis,andinthemiddleofthesewords,
herservantssawthatshehadcollapsedonherblade,
andtheswordfrothedwithbloodandherhandswerestained.
Aclamorrosetothehighceiling:Rumor,throughthecity,rusheswildly.

WhileIwaswritingthis,Iattemptedtobalancebothtextualaccuracyandpolished
prose,thatis,iftherewasaturnofphrasethatsoundedstrangeinEnglishIattempted
tomakeitsoundmorenatural.IthinkIerredontheeditorializingside,becauseI
thoughtitwasmoreimportantfortheprosetosoundintelligentandunambiguousthan
itwastopreservetheoriginalwordorderorlinelength.Ididntattempttomakemy
translationpoetic,anditsaveryprosaictranslationinthatsense.Thatbeingsaid,I
triedtokeepmostofthegrammaticalstructureintactandIbelievethatmakesthe
translationalittleclunkierthanitcouldbe.MostofthispassageisDidosspeech,andI
thereforeleftthetranslationfairlymelodramatic,becauseDidoisamelodramaticperson
andherotherspeechesreflectthat.Iwantedthetranslationtopreservethedramaof
themomentwithoutbeingconfusing,andIwantedthetranslationtoberelativelyeasy
toread.
Therewereseveralvocabularywordsthatwerestrange,orhadmultiple
meanings.Someofthesetermsweremeanttohavemultiplemeanings,andothers
usedaspecificmeaningoutofthemultitude.Itranslatedfelixashappiness,rather
thanluck,becauseIfeltthathappinesswasslightlymorefittingthansayingthatDido,
whoisnowcommittingsuicideandhashadherlover/husbandleaveher,islucky.
However,luckywouldhavebeenanadequatetranslationaswell,andwouldnothave
significantlychangedthetoneofthetranslation.Spargo,ontheotherhand,isaword
thattechnicallymeanstostrewandtheuseofitinthiscontextsuggestsboththather
handsarestrewn/splatteredwithbloodandthatherhandsareconvulsing.Imore
colloquiallytranslatedithereasstained,becausetoaddtheentiremultitudeof

meaningsinthiscontext,ortotranslatespargoasstrewnwouldhavebeenalittlebit
odd.Theuseofimagohere,whichmeansimage,asopposedtoawordthatmeans
bodyisalsointeresting.Imago,alongwithmeaningimage,alsomeansghostorcopy,
alongwithamultitudeofothermeanings.Therefore,byusingthewordimago,Dido
impliesthatonlyherbodyandnothersoulgoesundertheearthfitting,consideringhow
shehadtoldAeneasthatherspiritwouldhaunthim.
Ihadalittlebitoftroubletranslatingultavirumpoenasinimicoafratrerecepi,
aswhenIfirsttranslateditIwasconfusedaboutwhowasreceivingrevenge.Onfirst
glance,itwasanambiguousstatement.Recepi/recapiomeanstotakebackorto
receive,anditmakesnosenseforDidotosaythatsheisreceiving
punishment/revenge.Therefore,theonlytranslationistoinferthatrecapiohereisbeing
translatedmeaningtakingback,inthesensethatshetakesbackherrevengeagainst
herbrother.Anotherwordaltus,which,dependingoncontextmeanseitherheightsor
depths,Ichosetotranslateasdepths,becauseitseemedfarmorefittingwiththetalk
aboutdoomanddeath.Grammatically,therewasnothingtoodifficultinthese
passages.ThereisaninstanceofsynecdocheandmetonymywhenDidospeaksof
TrojankeelsasstandinginforTrojanships.Ilefttherhetoricaldeviceintactinthe
translation,becauseIthoughtthatthedeviceaddedtothetoneofthework.