Talk:Gaspard de la Nuit (poetry collection)
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Translation error
[edit]In Section I there is a translation of the vernacular Parisienne French which like most translations is debatable but also, as with most translations- the preponderance of usage is the determinant of meaning and from this; translation.
The text is translated as: "..clarity shone through the shadows" The French for it is "Une clarté piqua les ténèbres'". A more common usage, more common poetic device and more direct translation is
"… (a) clarity bit through the darknesses"
Darkness being plural is not conversational use it is a poetic license being used as a specific polar contrast to "a" clarity. To define darkness, or the unknowns (plural), as being vulnerable to a single beam of light as ignorance can be dispelled with a simple realization. This functions better in the story and in usage.
Source: I'm a Psycholinguist in a bilingual country where we are taught French in kindergarten. An avid consumer of French literature and in a place where we use French daily.
2604:3D08:1578:F900:39FC:692E:1860:57AC (talk) 14:22, 30 March 2024 (UTC)