On the Threshold | Style

On the Threshold Style

Form and Structure

One of the problems a translator faces is how to preserve in a new language as much of the form and structure of the original poem as possible. Often the task is virtually impossible, especially with the use of rhyme. In the original Italian, "On the Threshold" is consistently rhymed. In the first stanza, for example, at the end of line 1, pomario (orchard) rhymes both with morto (dead) at the end of line 3, and with reliquiario (reliquary) at the end of line 5. The other stanzas also have distinctive patterns of rhyme. But the rhymes cannot easily be translated into English, and the translator makes no attempt to do so. The result is that the English version reads like a poem written in free verse.

However, other aspects of the original poem are preserved, including meaning, line and stanza length, and punctuation. As in the original,...
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