Emily Dickinson: Translating Puzzling Expressions in "There's a certain Slant of light" into Japanese

Abstract

Emily Dickinson:Translating Puzzling Expressions in "There's a certain Slant of light" into Japanese Michiko Iwata (bio) Click for larger view View full resolution [End Page 62] fuyu no gogo ni wa There's a certain Slant of light, nanameni sashikomu ichijoo no hikari ga aru Winter Afternoons— daiseidoo no shirabe no yoo ni That oppresses, like the Heft omoku noshikakaru Of Cathedral Tunes— seinaru kizu o owaseru Heavenly Hurt, it gives us— kizuato wa darenimo mienai We can find no scar, ga imi ga umareru tokoro But internal difference, kokoro no naka de nanika ga chigatte iru Where the Meanings, are— daremo sore o tugeru koto wa dekinai None may teach it—Any— sore wa fuuin zetsuboo 'Tis the Seal Despair— sora kara okurareta An imperial affliction shikoo no kunoo Sent us of the Air— sore ga kuru toki fuukei wa kikimimi o tate When it comes, the Landscape listens— kage wa iki o nomu Shadows—hold their breath— tachisaru toki wa tooku o mite iru When it goes, 'tis like the Distance shi'nin no booto shita kao no yoo On the look of Death— In Japan, we can read this poem in published translations by seventeen different scholars. The first translation was by Hisajiroo Noguchi in 1953. First, I must say that, in Japanese translation, you cannot appreciate Dickinson's poems in Romanized Japanese because it is only phonetic. Japanese writing is composed of ideographic characters, that is, Chinese characters, and two kinds of kana, phonetic script, hiragana and katakana. So it can be said that through combining these three elements, we can make a variety of visual rhythms to make better translations especially in poems. In translation, a difficulty is the problem of meter and alliteration and rhyme. It is rather hard or impossible to translate the music of the original lines into Japanese. But these three kinds of Japanese language are rather visual and, in a sense, substitute for rhythm in writing poems, as I have also noted in my discussion of "Further in Summer than the Birds" (P1068) in Part III (see pp. 96-100). Difficulties and Solutions Whenever I read this poem P258, I am impressed by the first two lines. They can tell all of the poem, I think. The scene is very important though this poem is written about despair. The scene also represents her feeling. The image of a winter afternoon is slow, weak, dark, heavy, and severe. In Dickinson's birthplace, Amherst, people are "sealed" in winter. They must endure the death-like season because it is given from "Heaven." It is hard to compare the climate with that of Japan, an island country which is [End Page 63] rather mild except in the northern part. But we can share the winter image well. I want to keep such an atmosphere, as we see dying winter sunlight while we listen to her serious distress even in Japanese translation. I try to make a slow and heavy rhythm with Chinese characters. The phrase "a certain Slant of light" on "Winter Afternoons" has an impact on Dickinson. Nobody except her can be depressed by it. She tries to define her depression completely. For example, "like the Heft / of Cathedral Tunes—" or "like . . . the look of Death—." She thoroughly writes her suffering from the third line in the first stanza to the end of the poem. But she does so in vain. She names her suffering "imperial affliction" because "a certain Slant of light" is sent from God in heaven, and only her imperial mind can understand it as the fundamental "affliction" in human existence. She cannot escape from it. She tries bravely to stand up to despair, like a queen. Such is her pride that it makes her expressions more powerful and noble. In translation, I take great care about the atmosphere and her poetic strategy. I try to use Chinese characters, abstract or literary styles as much as possible, which make the poem slow and heavy, in a sort of imperial way. 1. Ambiguous expressions in Dickinson But even in serious poems, she always uses some interesting expressions which puzzle her readers. It is one of her poems' special...