Subject: metre for hamlet

From: "G. Dyke" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 20:32:46 +0200

Nick has said that he could not really approve of any translation of Hamlet
that did not scan and I kind of agree. (again) I can't be bothered to single
out his emailad and your views might also be of great interest so I posted
here. A lot of classical litterature tries to fits iambic pentametre. Lojban
has several inconveniences: it has penultimate syllable stress (making it
more suitable for trochees) and it is rather two wordy. my question is
this: to what extent should le Lojban metre of hamlet follow that of the
English?

Here the second line of hamlet: in English, Lojban prose, Lojban verse:

Nay answer me. Stand and unfold yourself

na'i .i ko spuda mi la'e di'e .i gu'e nu nalmu'u gi cmesku

na'i .i mi se spuda ko le nu
nalmu'u .e lenu cmene cusku ku

Is it worth addig a line and imposing unnatural terminators (I had put kei,
but changed it to ku for added ridicule zo'o) for the sake of metre ?

mi'e greg
--

"I have a proposal for the international community:
help us build an execution block ; then we will be able to use our stadium
for playing football"
*the afghani foreign minister*