R.Pulvers and Beichman

In Beichman's reading, there are many interesting points regarding how the translation of a poem affects people's perceptions. A poem often includes numerous cultural and artistic factors. In other words, if the author successfully translates the poem from English to Japanese or from Japanese to English, people can not just indirectly share their points of view with people from different countries but also understand different perceptions from different languages. But can we translate a poem that does not merely translate words for words but also includes what the author truly wants to share? A quote from Roger Pulvers's paper says this: I believe, is that textual correctness — the literal meaning of the original — is a prerequisite of a good translation, but not the deciding factor in the art." This sentence clearly shows that the translation of the poem is mechanical translation but rather making choices of what words can express what the author is saying in this poem. 

"Ame ni mo makezu" by Kenji Miyazawa is very difficult to translate because the sentence itself is very simple and short; however, because it is simple, people's ideas of what the author is trying to say in this poem are varied. The first sentence of "Ame ni mo makezu" says, "Not giving in to the rain" … or … "Unyielding to the rain." Both sentences are grammatically correct but give different impressions to readers. If the translator chooses the wrong words or grammar, then readers cannot truly understand what Miyazawa was thinking and saying. 

Specifically, the translation of the poem requires a lot of understanding of the text. In addition, poems usually have less amount of words and sentences. Because of this unique structure, readers can easily misunderstand the author's ideas. In the poem translation, deep understanding of the text is the first and the most critical step.