I learned to sing For Lovers by Lamp and the lyrics are so poetic and meaningful, but i feel like my translation of it would’ve been completely different and literal had I not looked at an official interpretation. How do I begin to understand how someone is saying something, and not just what. Does anyone have any additional resources/poetry I could look at?
Lyrics:
好きな季節は短いもので。
気づかないうちに溶け出してゆく。
うつろう景色の 中で 一人。
僕は佇み君を思う。
Genius translation:
“Because the season I like is a short thing.
It melted away without me noticing.
Alone in this moving scenery.
I stand still and think of you.”
2 comments
Honestly, read more.
If you can find works with 解説 or something (so basically what you just described), then you can verify so that’s also good.
If your literature-related classes during school wasn’t your forte, it might also help to practice them in your native language as well.
Yeah, this is a skill that translates pretty easily to your second language if you can do it in your first. I had to read [this book](https://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Literature-Like-Professor/dp/0062301675?ref=d6k_applink_bb_dls&dplnkId=d6195b16-ec3a-4d6d-b1d1-a93d84223f97) in high school and remember finding it helpful. I haven’t read it, but the same author as a book [specifically for poetry](https://www.amazon.com/dp/006211378X/ref=emc_b_5_mob_i?ref=d6k_applink_bb_dls&dplnkId=61b88507-6482-45a8-bc53-03001add618f) as well. Poetry conventions differ between English and Japanese, but if you can learn how to analyze a poem in English, it’s *a lot* easier to get used to the conventions of Japanese poetry