Sophia Ampgkarian

on translating Veronika Dolina

It was important to me that this translation carried a sense of conversation and argument between two voices as strongly as the original. On one hand, we have a voice fearful of the poet leaving, protective of his fragility, and on the other, we have a disenchanted cynic who has lost hope in Moscow and longs to go abroad.

This back-and-forth argumentation is conveyed in the original with strong contradictions and negations in between lines, and the reproachful address govorish (“you say”). To preserve this stubbornness of both speakers, I chose to add the “oh” interjection in the first lines of the disagreement because I felt that it heightened the pessimism of the second voice. It conveys a certain nonchalance which knows the poet all too well.

Another important aspect of the poem I paid attention to while translating was the characterization of the poet. He is portrayed as a ditz of sorts: hot-tempered, disoriented, and unable to act in self-preservation. I chose to connote this child-like innocence through verbs like "gawk" and "chide”.

Finally, it must be noted that Veronika Dolina recites the poem in the form of a light song, accompanied by her guitar. The repetition of govorish (“you say”) over and over with different statements each time gradually builds up frustration for her interlocutor. This effect is helped along by the phonological composition of govorish, which has three syllables yet is quick and harsh to pronounce, with a grating quality. Dolina almost mutters it under her breath in her performance. In English, however, “you say” is more bouncy with vowels, it is more smoothly digestible to the ear. To compensate for this reduced feeling of accusatory annoyance, I opted for more informal and fragmented sentences in stanzas 5 and 6, which mirror the hurried, staccato rhythm of the govorish clauses.

I believe that these additions and compromises all helped to enhance in English the original’s emotionality, the impression of two sides tugging on different ends of a chord — one convinced that abroad is scary, and the other that home is no worse.