Second Round David Reid Poetry Translation Prize
In the second round of the David Reid Poetry Translation Prize, participants had to translate the poem ‘De Tuinman en de Dood’ (The Gardener and Death) by P.N. van Eyck. There were as many as 44 entries, and the winning translation was that of David Colmer.
In the jury report (in English) Donald Gardner explained the jury’s choice as follows: ‘This is a straightforward and unaffected version that avoided all the obvious snares. P.N. van Eyck’s poem seemed somewhat more of a challenge for the over forty entrants than the poem of the previous competition, Hendrik Marsman’s ‘Denkend aan Holland’.
This was due mainly to the strict metre and occasional ballad-like archaisms of P.N. van Eyck’s poem, which did not work in versions that resorted to ‘olde’ English. Colmer has avoided this pitfall, while preserving the timeless tone of the poem. He has fulfilled what must be the central criterion of a good translation, to convey the spirit and poetry of the original. His version has captured the terror of this tale that is disguised by its slow formal metre and language. The rhymes are unforced and while he sometimes achieves this by including small interpretations of his own, these are if anything positive additions, as they make for greater naturalness, without conflicting with the spirit of the original.’
Judith Wilkinson’s version was a very good second: ‘In a crowded field for the runner-up, the jury felt that Judith Wilkinson was a good choice. Again her version stands out for its unforced rhymes and the fact that she seems very comfortable in following the metre of the original. Once again, a good translation depends on the translator hearing the pacing, the pauses and the metre of the original and Judith Wilkinson confidently meets these requirements.’
All entries can be found on the website of the prize