While most of my translations from the years between 1973 and 1982 are fundamentally faithful to the letter of the original French texts, others are more wayward adaptations “covering” the originals. While I was attempting to render the French into English loyal to the meanings of the thought, I was also trying to re-present a tone of voice functionally equivalent to that expressed in the original. For instance, in the case of the slangy, punk-like lingo in my version of Rimbaud’s “Visionary Letters,” the results seem to me to ring true to the essence of both the ideas and the tone of what Henry Miller brazenly called the 17-year-old Rimbaud’s “nigger French.” In no case have I intended to be disloyal to the original intentions of the authors, whose words are often posted here so that readers with sufficient knowledge of French language and literature can make their own judgments and draw their own conclusions.
Published Translations
Unpublished Translations
