Gray's "Elegy" in translation
Translations
-
Danish/Dansk
- Lund, Christen Andersen (Danish, verse, 1785)
-
French/Français
- Necker, Susanne Curchod de Nasse (French, prose, 1765)
- Couret de Villeneuve, Louis Pierre (French, verse, 1770)
- Guédon de Berchère, Pierre (French, verse, 1788)
- Merlin de Douai, Philippe-Antoine (French, verse, 1788)
- F. N. (French, verse, 1788)
- Grave, Jean-Hyacinthe de (French, prose, 1789)
- Dusaulchoy, J. F. N. (French, verse, 1796)
- Chateaubriand, François-René de (French, verse, 1797)
- Cabanis, P. J. G. (French, prose, 1797)
- DuBois, M. (French, prose, 1797)
- Montmorency, Mathieu de (French, verse, 1797)
- Le Deist de Kérivalant, Nicholas (French, verse, 1797)
- Lemierre d'Argy, Auguste-Jacques (French, prose, 1798)
- Cournand, Antoine de (French, verse, 1802)
- Haiiy (French, prose, 1802)
- Salaberry d'Irumberry, Charles-Marie (French, verse, 1802)
- Le Deist de Kérivalant, Nicholas (French, verse, 1804)
- Gaston, Hyacinthe de (French, verse, 1804)
- Chénier, Marie-Joseph de (French, verse, 1805)
-
German/Deutsch
- Gotter, Friedrich Wilhelm (German, verse, 1771)
- Anon (German, prose, 1772)
- Müller, Carl Wilhelm (German, prose, 1776)
- Anon (German, prose, 1789)
- Wied-Neuwied, Luise Fürstin von (German, verse, 1795)
- Seume, Johann Gottfried (German, verse, 1796)
- Kosegarten, Ludwig Gotthard (German, verse, 1798)
- Tscharner, Johann Baptista von (German, verse, 1805)
-
Italian/Italiano
- Cesarotti, Melchiorre (Italian, verse, 1772)
- Gennari, Giuseppe (Italian, verse, 1772)
- Crocchi, Abbate (Italian, verse, 1775)
- Torelli, Giuseppe (Italian, verse, 1776)
- Giannini, Giuseppe (Italian, verse, 1782)
- Lastri, Marco (Italian, verse, 1784)
- Buttura, Antonio (Italian, verse, 1801)
-
Latin/Latine
- Anstey, Christoper / Roberts, William Hayward (Latin, verse, 1762)
- Lloyd, Robert (Latin, verse, 1762)
- Costa, Giovanni (Latin, verse, 1772)
- Evangeli, Antonio (Latin, verse, 1772)
- Costa, Giovanni (Latin, verse, 1775)
- Langrishe, Robert (Latin, verse, 1775)
- Wakefield, Gilbert (Latin, verse, 1776)
- Anstey, Christoper / Roberts, William Hayward (Latin, verse, 1778)
- Wright, John (Latin, verse, 1786)
- Murphy, Arthur (Latin, verse, 1786)
- Woty, William (Latin, verse, 1789)
- Dupré, John (Latin, verse, 1793)
- G. (Latin, verse, 1793)
- Kerr, Nelson (Latin, verse, 1802)
- Blackburn Free Grammar School of Queen Elizabeth (Latin, verse, 1805)
-
Polish/Polskie
- Niemcewicz, Julian Ursyn (Polish, verse, 1803)
-
Portuguese/Português
- Azevedo, António de Araújo de (Portuguese, verse, 1792)
- Ponte, José Freire da (Portuguese, prose, 1794)
-
Russian/русский
- Zhukovsky, Vasily Andreyevich (Russian, verse, 1802)
-
Spanish/Español
- Escoiquiz, Juan de (Spanish, prose, 1805)
-
Swedish/Svenska
- Silverstolpe, Axel Gabriel (Swedish, verse, 1798)
-
Welsh/Cymraeg
- Davis, David (Welsh, verse, 1798)
Bibliography
Primary (chronologically by language)
-
Danish/Dansk
- Lund, Christen Andersen.
Landsby-Kirkegaarden
. Iversen, Christian, ed. Samling af Poesier for Aaret 1785. Odense: Iversen, 1785. 142-4. (An imitation based on motives taken from Gray's poem. Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Starr #170]
- Lund, Christen Andersen.
-
French/Français
- Necker, Susanne Curchod de Nasse.
ÉLÉGIE Ecrite sur un Cimetière de Campagne, traduite de l'anglais de M. Gray
. La Gazette littéraire. 1765. 218-225. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Northup #739] - Couret
de Villeneuve, Louis Pierre.
ÉLÉGIE Sur un Cimétiere de Campagne, imitée de l'Anglois de M. Gray
. Le Mercure de France. Nov. 1770. 265-270. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Northup #741] - Guédon
de Berchère, Pierre.
ELEGIE
. An Elegy written in a Country Church-yard, by Gray. With a French and a Latin translation in verse. Croydon: Printed for the French Translator, 1788. 5-21. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) (see also digital library) [Northup #742, Starr #172] - Merlin de
Douai, Philippe-Antoine.
IMITATION DE L'ELEGIE DE GRAY, Sur un Cimitière de Campagne
. L'année littéraire. 1788. vi. 198-207. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Northup #743] - F. N..
IMITATION de l'Elégie de Gray, sur un cimetière de campagne.
. Le Magasin Encyelopédique 5. Paris: 1795. 538-543. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Northup #744] - Grave, Jean-Hyacinthe de.
Le Cimitière de Village. ÉLÉGIE DE GRAY
. Le Culte des theophilanthropes 3. Basle: 1798. 66-72. (Transcription by Alexander Huber.) [Turk (2016), 4.] - Dusaulchoy, J. F. N..
Le cimetière de campagne: méditation imitée de Gray, poète anglais
. Les soirées littéraires. 1796. iii. 126 ff. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Northup #745] - Chateaubriand, François-René de. Les Tombeaux Champêtres. Le Journal de Peltier. Londres: 11 Déc. 1797. 319-322. (Transcription by Alexander Huber.) [Northup #747, Starr #176]
- Cabanis, P. J. G..
Le Cimetière de Campagne, Élégie de Gray. Traduite de l'Anglais
(1797) . Mélanges de littérature allemande, etc.. Paris: Smits, An V. 399-408. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Northup #746, Starr #173] - DuBois, M..
Le Cimetière de Village Elégie
. The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray. London: 1797. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Northup #748] - Montmorency, Mathieu de. Traduction en vers de l'élégie de Gray, sur un cimetière de village. Paris: Dampierre, 1797. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Northup #749b]
- Le Deist de Kérivalant, Nicholas.
Le cimetière de campagne, Élégie. Traduite de l'Anglois
(1797) . Almanach des Muses. Paris: An V [1797]. 147-152. (Transcription by Alexander Huber.) [Northup #749, Starr #174, Starr #175] - Lemierre d'Argy, Auguste-Jacques. Elegie faite Dans un cimetière de campagne (1798) . Paris: An VI. 155-169. (Transcription by Tom Turk [pp. 155-165] and Alexander Huber [pp. 167-169].) [Northup #750]
- Cournand, Antoine de. ÉLÉGIE Faite Dans Un Cimetière De Campagne. Imitation de l'Anglais de Gray. [N.l.]: 1802. 1-4. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Northup #751]
- Haiiy.
Élégie de Gray, Sur un cimetière de campagne, en vers anglais. Ecrite dans un d'église de village cimetière
. Boulard, Antoine M. H., ed. Traductions interlinéaires des six langues allemande, suédoise, danoise, anglaise, portugaise et hébraique. Paris: 1802. 268-276. (Haiiy's revision of Cournand [1802]. Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Northup #752] - Salaberry d'Irumberry, Charles-Marie.
Gray,
. Mon Voyage au Mont d'Or. Paris: 1802. 188-197. (Transcription by Alexander Huber.) [Turk (2013), 56.]Elegy written in a Country Church-Yard
- Le Deist de Kérivalant, Nicholas.
Le cimetière de campagne, Élégie. Traduite de l'Anglois
. Le Magazin Encyclopédique. 1804 revision of 1797 edition. Paris: 1804. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Northup #749a, Starr #175] - Gaston, Hyacinthe de.
LE CIMETIÈRE DE VILLAGE, IMITATION LIBRE DE L'ÉLÉGIE DE GRAY
. Petite encyclopedie poetique. Paris: 1804. 9-12. (Transcription by Alexander Huber.) [Northup #754] - Chénier, Marie-Joseph de. LE CIMETIÈRE DE CAMPAGNE (1805) . À PARIS, CHEZ DABIN, PALAIS DU TRIBUNAT: AN XIII. [1805]. 6-15. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Northup #755]
- Necker, Susanne Curchod de Nasse.
-
German/Deutsch
- Gotter, Friedrich Wilhelm.
Elegie Auf einem Dorfkirchhofe geschrieben. Nach dem Gray
. Göttinger Musenalmanach auf 1771, no. 69. Göttingen: 1771. 60-64 [125-135]. (Transcription by Alexander Huber.) [Northup #772] - Anon.
Freye Nachahmung aus dem Englischen des Gray
. Mannigfaltigkeiten. 1772. 617-620. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Northup #771a] - Müller, Carl Wilhelm.
Elegie auf einem Landkirchhofe geschrieben
. Herrn Gray's Gedichte: Mit vorangesetzten Nachrichten von seinen Lebensumständen und Schriften herausgegeben von W. Mason. Aus dem Englischen übersetzt. Leipzig: Weidmann und Reich, 1776. 510-516. https://digital.lb-oldenburg.de/brandes/content/pageview/13121. (Transcription by Alexander Huber.) [Northup #773] - Anon.
Der Dorfkirchof. Elegie von Gray
. Religion und Gottesdienstliche Gebräuche, 3. Leipzig: 1799. 130-142. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Turk (2016), 5.] - Wied-Neuwied, Luise Fürstin von.
Gray's Elegie auf einem Dorfkirchhofe geschrieben
. Die deutsche Monatsschrift, Aug. 1795. 1795. II. 304-8. (Transcription by Alexander Huber.) [Northup #775] - Seume, Johann Gottfried.
Elegie Geschrieben auf einem Dorfkirchhofe. Aus dem Englischen des Herrn Gray
(1796) . Gedichte von Johann Gottfried Seume. Vierte, vermehrte und verbesserte, Auflage. 1815. 3-7. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015064542403&view=page&seq=35. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Northup #776] - Kosegarten, Ludwig Gotthard.
Der Dorfkirchhof. Elegie
(1798) . Ludwig Theoboul Kosegarten's Poesieen. Leipzig: Heinrich Gräff, 1802. Volume 1, pp. 121-126. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Northup #778] - Tscharner, Johann Baptista von.
Neuer Versuch einer Uebersetzung der Elegie in einem Dorfkirchhofe geschrieben, von Gray
. Isis: eine Monatschrift von deutschen und schweizerischen Gelehrten. Zürich: 1805. 469-474. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Northup #779]
- Gotter, Friedrich Wilhelm.
-
Italian/Italiano
- Cesarotti, Melchiorre.
Elegia Inglese, del signor Tommaso Gray, sopra un cimitero di campagna
(1772) . Torri, Alessandro, ed. L'Elegia di Tommaso Gray sopra un cimitero di campagna tradotta dall' inglese in più lingue con varie cose finora inedite. Verona: Tipografia Mainardi, 1817. 69-76. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) (see also digital library) [Northup #796, Starr #182a] - Gennari, Giuseppe.
Elegia inglese del signor Tommaso Gray sopra un cimitero di campagna
(1772) . Torri, Alessandro, ed. L'Elegia di Tommaso Gray sopra un cimitero di campagna tradotta dall' inglese in più lingue con varie cose finora inedite. Verona: Tipografia Mainardi, 1817. 77-83. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) (see also digital library) [Northup #797] - Crocchi, Abbate.
Elegia scritta in cimiterio di campagna
. Poems by Mr. Gray. Dublin: Printed by William Sleater, at No 51, In Castle-street, 1775. 153-166. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) (see also digital library) [Northup #798, Northup #62] - Torelli, Giuseppe.
Elegia scritta in un cimitero campestre
. Elegia di Tommaso Gray poeta inglese per esso scritta in un cimitero campestre tradotta in versi italiani. Verona: Gli Eredi di Agostino Carattoni, 1776. 7-19. (Transcription by Tom Turk and Alexander Huber.) (see also digital library) [Northup #799] - Giannini, Giuseppe.
Elegia scritta nel cimitero d'un villaggio
. Elegy written in a country church-yard By Gray: and translated into Italian verse by J. Giannini, L.L.D. Second edition. London: Printed for, and sold by, the Translator, 1782. 2-18. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Northup #800] - Lastri, Marco.
Elegia che si figura scritta in un cimitero di campagna
(1784) . Torri, Alessandro, ed. L'Elegia di Tommaso Gray sopra un cimitero di campagna tradotta dall' inglese in più lingue con varie cose finora inedite. Verona: Tipografia Mainardi, 1817. 85-89. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Northup #801] - Buttura, Antonio.
Elegia sopra un cimitero di campagna
(1801) . Torri, Alessandro, ed. L'Elegia di Tommaso Gray sopra un cimitero di campagna tradotta dall' inglese in più lingue con varie cose finora inedite. Verona: Tipografia Mainardi, 1817. 91-95. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Northup #802]
- Cesarotti, Melchiorre.
-
Latin/Latine
- Anstey, Christoper and Roberts, William Hayward. ELEGIA SCRIPTA IN COEMETERIO RUSTICO LATINE REDDITA. CANTABRIGIAE: TYPIS ACADEMICIS EXCUDEBAT J. BENTHAM. Prostant venales apud R. MATTHEWS ibidem Bibliopolam J. RIVINGTON, A. MILLAR; T. PAYNE, Londini; J. FLETCHER, Oxon, 1762. 3-15. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) (see also digital library) [Northup #820, Gibson / Wilkinson / Freeth (2008), no. 1]
- Lloyd, Robert.
CARMEN ELEGIACUM, IN CIMAETERIO RUSTICO COMPOSITUM
(1762) . Works. London: T. Evans, 1774. Vol. ii, 189-205. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) (see also digital library) [Northup #821, Gibson / Wilkinson / Freeth (2008), no. 2] - Costa, Giovanni.
ELEGIA IN SEPULCRETO RUSTICO CONSCRIPTA
. ELEGIA INGLESE DEL SIGNOR TOMMASO GRAY SOPRA UN CIMITERO DI CAMPAGNA TRASPORTATA IN VERSI LATINI E VOLGARI. Padua: 1772. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) (see also digital library) [Northup #822, Gibson / Wilkinson / Freeth (2008), no. 3] - Evangeli, Antonio.
Thomae Gray elegia in rusticum sepulcretum, ex anglico in latinum conversa
. Thomae Gray Elegia in Rusticum Sepulcretum, ex Anglico in Latinum Conversa. A CL. ER. P.A. Padua: 1772. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Northup #823, Gibson / Wilkinson / Freeth (2008), no. 4] - Costa, Giovanni.
Ne mireris, Benigne Lector, ELEGIAE THOMAE GRAY Versionem alteram extra locum tibi sisti. Ad id enim me, properantibus ad finem praelis, eorum, quorum plurimum apud me valere debet auctoritas, consilium impulit. TROCHAICUM
. Poema Alexandri Pope De Homine, Jacobi Thomson, & Thomae Gray Selecta Carmina, ex Britanna in Latinam Linguam Translata a Joanne Costa in Seminario Patavino Academiae Praeceptore, cum Nonnullis Ejusdem Poeticis Scriptionibus. Padua: 1775. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Northup #822, Gibson / Wilkinson / Freeth (2008), no. 5] - Langrishe, Robert.
Elegy Written in a Country Church-Yard
. Poems of Mr Gray. Dublin: 1775. Vol. ii, 205-13. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Northup #824, Gibson / Wilkinson / Freeth (2008), no. 6] - Wakefield, Gilbert.
ELEGIA IN COEMETERIO RUSTICO SCRIPTA
. Poemata latine partim scripta, partim reddita ... a Gilberto Wakefield A.B. et Coll. Jesu apud Cantab, socio. Cambridge: J. Archdeacon, 1776. 60-75. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) (see also digital library) [Northup #825, Gibson / Wilkinson / Freeth (2008), no. 7] - Anstey, Christoper and Roberts, William Hayward. ELEGIA SCRIPTA IN COEMETERIO RUSTICO LATINE REDDITA. Editio nova prioribus emendatior. Londini: J. Dodsley, 1778. (Transcription by Alexander Huber.) [Northup #820, Gibson / Wilkinson / Freeth (2008), no. 1]
- Wright, John. ELEGIA SCRIPTA IN SEPULCHRETO RUSTICO LATINE REDDITA. London: Veneunt apud T. Lewis, in vico dicto, Russel Street et B. White, Fleet Street, 1786. 11-19. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Northup #826, Gibson / Wilkinson / Freeth (2008), no. 8]
- Murphy, Arthur.
Elegia Thomae Gray, in carmen latinum conversa. Ode. In coemeterio rustico scripta
. The Works of Arthur Murphy. London: T. Cadell, 1786. VII, 225-240. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Northup #840, Starr #184, Gibson / Wilkinson / Freeth (2008), no. 9] - Woty, William.
Gray's Church-yard Elegy. Latin version
. Poetical amusements. Nottingham: 1789. 101-113. (Ll. 117-120 is a translation of the 'redbreast' stanza [Eton and Pembroke MSS and in print from the third edition, but removed in the 1753 Designs]. Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Northup #826a, Gibson / Wilkinson / Freeth (2008), no. 10] - Dupré, John.
A TRANSLATION of GRAY's ELEGY, into LATIN VERSE by J.D. [John Dupré] of Berkhamsted School Public Day, Wednesday, October 2d, 1793
(1793) . Musae berkhamstedienses: or Poetical prolusions by some young gentlemen of Berkhamsted School. Berkhamsted: W. McDowall, 1794. 96-110. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Northup #828, Gibson / Wilkinson / Freeth (2008), no. 11] - G..
Logoi Epitaphioi
. The Gentleman's Magazine. Jan.-Apr. 1793. LXIII. 69, 166, 261-2, 360. (Ll. 117-120 is a translation of the 'redbreast' stanza [Eton and Pembroke MSS and in print from the third edition, but removed in the 1753 Designs]. Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Northup #827, Gibson / Wilkinson / Freeth (2008), no. 12] - Kerr, Nelson.
PÖEMATIA. ELEGIA, RUSTICO COEMETERIO INSCRIPTA. E. GRAY
. Poematia, auctore Nelson Kerr, LL. B., Coll. Johan. Bapt. Oxon. London: 1802. 19-26. (Accent marks omitted. Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Northup #829, Gibson / Wilkinson / Freeth (2008), no. 13] - Blackburn Free Grammar School of Queen Elizabeth.
Gray's Elegy, written in a Country Church-Yard, rendered into Latin by the Scholars of the First Class, February 6, 1805
. The Anti-Jacobin Review and Magazine, 79-82. 1805. 443-446. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Gibson / Wilkinson / Freeth (2008), no. 14]
-
Polish/Polskie
- Niemcewicz, Julian Ursyn.
Elegia pisana na cmentarzu wiejskim przez P. Grey po Angielsku, nasladowana oyczystym iezykiem
. Pisma Rozmaite, Wspolczesnych, wierszem i proza. Warsaw: 1803. v. 2. 537-542. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Turk (2013), 66.]
- Niemcewicz, Julian Ursyn.
-
Portuguese/Português
- Azevedo, António de
Araújo de.
Elegia de Gray, escrita no adro de uma igreja de aldeia
(1792) . Boulard, Antoine Marie Henri, ed. Traductions interlinéaires des 6 langues allemande, suédoise, danoise, anglaise, portugaise et hébraique. Paris: Fuchs, Messidor, An X [1802]. 234-241. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Northup #858, Starr #187a] - Ponte, José Freire da.
ELEGIA Escrita sobre hum cemitério do campo, e traduzida do Inglez de Mr. Cray
(1794) . Hervey, James, and José Freire da Ponte, eds. Meditações do Doutor James Hervey. Lisboa: 1805. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Turk (2013), 67.]
- Azevedo, António de
Araújo de.
-
Russian/русский
-
Spanish/Español
- Escoiquiz, Juan de.
El Cementerio del Aldea. Elegía de Gray, traducida libremente del inglés
. Minerva ó el revisor general, obra periódica no. 14. 1805. 105-111. (Transcription by Tom Turk.) [Starr #194]
- Escoiquiz, Juan de.
-
Swedish/Svenska
- Silverstolpe, Axel Gabriel.
ELEGIE
. LÄSNING I BLANDADE ÄMNEN. Stockholm: Tryckt hos Henrik A. Nordström, 1798. 1-6. (Ll. 109-112 is a translation of a rejected stanza [Eton MS]. Transcription by Alexander Huber.) [Turk (2013), 71.]
- Silverstolpe, Axel Gabriel.
-
Welsh/Cymraeg
Secondary
-
Dufour, Frank, Michele Rosen, Rainer Schulte, and Cassini Nazir.
Translation and the Digital Age
. ALTA Conference 2013. Bloomington: U of Indiana, 2013. Web. 20 Mar 2018. https://www.academia.edu/40597541/Translation_and_the_Digital_Age_ALTA_Conference_2013 -
Garrison, James D. A Dangerous Liberty: Translating Gray's Elegy. Newark, DL: U of Delaware P, 2009. Print. (Covers a wide range of languages, with particular emphasis on French, Italian, German, Russian, and Spanish.)
-
Gibson, Donald, Peter Wilkinson, and Stephen Freeth, eds. Thomas Gray Elegy in a Country Churchyard: Latin Translations, 1762-2001. Orpington: The Holden Press, 2008. Print. (Contains 43 Latin translations of the Elegy.)
-
Huber, Alexander.
Gray's "Elegy" in translation: a multilingual digital humanities project
. Creative Multilingualism blog, 7 Feb 2019. Web. 12 Mar 2020. https://www.creativeml.ox.ac.uk/blog/exploring-multilingualism/grays-elegy-translation-multilingual-digital-humanities-project/ -
Jones, Francis R.
The Translation of Poetry
. Malmkjaer, Kirsten, and Kevin Windle, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Translation Studies. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. 169-182. Print. -
Koller, Werner. Einführung in die Übersetzungswissenschaft. 4. Auflage. Heidelberg; Wiesbaden: Quelle & Meyer, 1992 [1979]. Print.
-
Northup, Clark S. A Bibliography of Thomas Gray. New Haven; London: Yale UP; Humphrey Milford/Oxford UP, 1917. Print. https://www.thomasgray.org/texts/diglib/secondary/NoC_1917
-
Starr, Herbert W. A Bibliography of Thomas Gray, 1917-1951. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P, 1953. Print. https://www.thomasgray.org/texts/diglib/secondary/StH_1953
-
Turk, Thomas N.
Search and Rescue: An Annotated Checklist of Translations of Gray's Elegy
. Translation and Literature 22 (Spring 2013): 45-73. Print. -
Turk, Thomas N.
The Translations of Gray's Elegy. Part II: Additions, Clarifications and Corrections
. 2016. TS. Thomas Gray Archive.
About
Background
Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country-Churchyard" (1751) is one of the most widely and frequently translated/paraphrased/imitated poems in the English language. With to date at least 266 translations into at least 40 languages, the "Elegy" has inspired translators since the early 1760s when the earliest Latin translations appeared. Since then, the poem has been influential in the history of many national literatures, particularly in the context of the development of European Romanticism.
The project
The aim of the "Gray's 'Elegy' in translation"-project is to make it possible to trace and document the reception and impact of Gray's most famous poem in a number of languages and national literatures. Drawing on the extensive collection of "Elegy" translations compiled by Tom Turk, the purpose of this work is firstly to enable the study of the evolution of translations of the poem in a single language, and secondly to allow for a comparative study of the translations across languages and literatures. The translations variably highlight changes in the interpretation of the original, reflect cultural borrowings and transfers, betray changes in literary taste, and may allow us to uncover the circumstances, agency, and purpose of their production.
Current and future work
In this first phase of the project we have covered the period up to 1805, comprising 57 verse and prose translations of the "Elegy" in eleven languages (Danish, French, German, Italian, Latin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Welsh). We have opted for this approach, because it should help to more easily contextualize the translations in their historical contexts, make them more easily comparable across languages, and avoids any potential copyright issues. We plan to extend this range to the 1830s and beyond (adding many more translations and languages) in future phases of the project. N.B. We are aware of a number of lacunae from the period covered by this first installment of the project that have yet to be added in full-text. The reason why the translations have been omitted is given in each case.
Technical note
The electronic files have been created by encoding transcription from printed text. The full-text of each translation is accompanied by a short note on prose or verse form as well as bibliographic information about the source edition, which can also be consulted in the bibliography. All texts have been marked up in TEI/XML for long-term access, re-use, and preservation purposes.
Lacunae
We are aware of the following translations of Gray's Elegy
from the period covered by this first installment of the project (1751-1805) that
have yet to be added in full-text. The reason why the translations have been omitted
is given in each case. If you are able to help with any of these, e.g. by tracing
a translation or aiding with transcription, or if you are aware of any other gaps,
we would be pleased to acknowledge any contributions you make. We will indicate any
translations we are working on to avoid duplication of labour. Thank you!
-
French/Français
- 1770: Villevielle, Marquis de [Northup #740, Starr #171]
- 1802: Sarrasin, Adrien de, Printemps (quatre) de Kleist, suivi du Premier navigateur, du Tableau du déluge (de Gessner), et d'une élégie de Gray sur un cimetière de campagne, poëmes imités en francais par Ad... S.... (Adrien de Sarrasin). Paris: Pougens, 1802. [Northup #753]
We have been unable to find these translations.
-
German/Deutsch
-
Greek/Ελληνικός
- 1785: Cooke, William [Northup #784]
- 1793: Norbury, John [Northup #785] [see also digital library]
- 1794: Coote, Charles [Northup #786] [see also digital library]
- 1794: Sparke, Bowyer Edward [Northup #787] [see also digital library]
- 1794: Weston, Stephen [Northup #788]
- 1795: Plumptre, John, Epitaph only [Northup #789]
- 1795: Tew, Edward [Northup #790] [see also digital library]
We have not included Greek translations of the
Elegy
so far. Any help with transcriptions would be appreciated. -
Italian/Italiano
- 1781: Povoleri, Giovanni, a translation into Tuscan? [Starr #183]
We have been unable to find this translation.
-
Russian/русский
- 1784: ?, incomplete prose translation [Turk (2013), 68]
- 1785: Gnedich [Starr #188]
- 1789: ? [Starr #189]
- 1798: Kozlovskii [Starr #190]
- 1800: Gre. [Starr #191]
- 1801: ?, prose paraphrase, incomplete [Starr #192]
There seem to be some six Russian translations of the
Elegy
prior to Zhukovsky's. These still need to be traced and verified. Any help with transcriptions would be appreciated.
Help
Two interfaces: full-text and detailed view
There are two basic interfaces to explore the translations of Gray's "Elegy": the full-text view and the detailed view. These can be selected/toggled between at the top of the translations comparison page. In the full-text view up to three texts (in any combination of languages) can be explored side-by-side in their entirety. In the detailed view any one stanza from a text can be compared with its "equivalents" (if available) in either all of the translations or the translations in a particular language.
Full-text view
Opening and closing texts
To open a text/translation, select it from the list of translations on the main page. Alternatively, select a text from the drop-down menu in the header of each of the text columns on the translations comparison page. To close a text, simply click the × (close) symbol at the top right of each text column.
Text alignment
When hovering over any stanza or paragraph in one text, "equivalent" passages are highlighted in the other texts/translations. If there is a considerable difference in the lengths of the texts, you can drag the shorter text downwards, as you scroll, to make it easier to keep them in sync. In case a translation contains a rejected stanza from an early edition or MS version of the "Elegy", it has been supplied and will be shown in the original at the point of their individual occurrences.
Translation and annotation
You can add a translation or comment on a translation of any section of any of the texts. Simply click on a word/token and drag the pointer to the end point of the passage to be annotated. When the button is released, a contribution form will appear and a translation and/or comment on the highlighted section can be contributed. Please make sure that rights of any kind are respected when including the work of third parties.
Please note that all contributions will be submitted to the editor for review in the first instance. Once peer-reviewed, they will appear as part of the Gray's "Elegy" in translation-textbase under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License. This license protects your contributions, but at the same time lets others re-use and build upon them.
Detailed view
Selecting a stanza
Switch to the detailed view by selecting it from the top of the translations comparison page. You can now select any of the stanzas in the text displayed in the left column and simply click on it. This will hide all other stanzas and will let you focus in detail on your selection. You can restore the full-text of the text and choose a different stanza by returning to the full-text view.
Selecting a language
By default, the "equivalents" of the selected stanza will be displayed in all other translations. You can narrow the selection to a language of your choice in the dropdown-menu at the top. As the list of translations grows for all languages, this comparison feature will come into its own.
From detail to context
You can "zoom" back out of the detailed view to a comparison of the entire text by selecting the full-text view at the top of the translations comparison page. You can pre-load the texts you want to compare by choosing the option to load a text into one of the columns offered with any text segment displayed in the detailed view. After you have preloaded the desired texts, simply switch back to the full-text view to resume your analysis of the selected texts.
Feedback
We would love to hear about your experience with the current interface and any changes, improvements, or additions you would like to see in the future. Please do not hesitate to contact the editor with your feedback. Thank you!