Comparative Analysis of Urdu and English Texts of “Subh-e-Azadi” by Faiz Ahmed Faiz

Abstract

The translation of a poetic work is difficult because it needs to transfer poetic strategies, rhyme, and rhythm, and complex themes. Therefore, the translation lacks many structural and thematic features of the source text. The comparative translational analysis of a poem explores all these features and evaluates the translation in comparison to the source language (SL. The present study is the comparative analysis of Urdu text and English translated text of a milestone of “Subh-e-Azadi” by Faiz Ahmed Faiz, translated by Agha Shahid with the title “Dawn of Freedom” under the domain of Peter Newmark’s model of translation. The poem was written in the backdrop of the creation of Pakistan with the dominant theme of lack of accomplishment of the promised dawn of equality, justice, and freedom. This article is a comprehensive account of the comparative analysis of both texts of the poem about strategies and procedures of translation, thematic and structural variations, translation shifts or transpositions, transference of meanings, and semantic variations.