King Lear: A Verse Translation in English (Enjoy Shakespeare)
I began this project of translating Shakespeare into more contemporary English after reading an article by John McWhorter in his bookThe Word on the Street: Fact and Fable about American English. In the article, "In Centenary Honor of Mark H. Liddell: The Shakespearean Tragedy," McWhorter demonstrates how difficult Shakespeare is for modern theatergoers and calls for careful and thoughtful translations of the plays.From the start, I wanted my translations to be literature and sound like Shakespeare. Getting that sound requires that I use the same style of blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter) that Shakespeare used and that I use it accurately. I also wanted the language in my translations to be challenging. Shakespeare used difficult language, both in the size of his vocabulary and the complexity of his sentences. As I translate, I maintain the same sentence length and complexity as in Shakespeare's original, careful not to simplify or "dumb him down." I want readers to forget that they are reading a translation.To produce accurate translations, I trust none of my intuitions. With each line, I consult historical dictionaries and draw heavily on scholarship found in the many edited and glossed editions of the plays. I assume that without the help of scholars, I will fall for every false friend (words whose meanings have changed) and miss subtlety. Of course, I must sometimes guess at the meaning, but I prefer the guess be made by the many scholars who have closely studied Shakespeare since the 18th century. My job is to figure out  what each line means and then make it more comprehensible in language that seems Shakespearean.I hope you get a chance to read one of my translations. The patina that builds up on an antique over time can no doubt add its own beauty, but it can also hide it. You might be surprised just how good Shakespeare is when a bit of the grime and discoloration left by language change has been removed.