Last night I borrowed The Anchor Anthology of French Poetry from the library; and whilst reading realized that so much is lost in between the French and English. The eloquence of the language is definitely set adrift in the process of translation. Translators must have a heck of a time deciding how to do it. You can either directly translate the poem, and lose the flow; or translate the meaning, and really then you are just writing a similar themed poem. Just an open ended though. Take a look at this excerpt from La Beauté by Charles Beaudelaire and see if you agree!
"Beautiful am I, oh, mortals, like a dream of stone!
And my breast, where each in his turn has been broken,
Is made to inspire a love in the poet
Eternal and mute as matter is lasting and still"
vs.
"Je suis belle, ô mortels! comme un rève de pierre,
Et mon sein, où chacun s'est meutri tour à tour,
Est fait pour inspirer au poète un amour
Eternel et muet ainsi que la matière."
