Alas, if one were as talented as Pound in English. As a student of Hungarian, I have tried a translation or two, and have found it quite safe taking the approach of "moving the reader toward the writer". One reason is because my experiences have shown me that Hungarians, like any other non-native English speakers, are fairly guarded of the nuances and subtleties of their native tongue. As well they should be. But then again, since languages like Hungarian aren't widely spoken, I was more wanting to introduce others more to the content than style (low ambition and talent on my part). In any case, it still is a worthy and fun endeavor.

Eddie, which Hungarian poet have you tried translating? Poets like Petofi Sandor and Atilla Joszef are, in my opinion, trite and could probably be brought into English without trouble since doggerel is universal. But Weores Sandor, undoubtedly the greatest Hungarian poet of the 20th century, is pretty much untranslatable. I have seen a translation into English by George Szirtes of a fragment from his "Hatodik szimfonia" that is nearly successful.

Christopher,
I've tried (emphasis on 'tried') translating Jozsef, Vorosmarty, Szabo Lorinc, and just a bit of Kosztolanyi's poetry. I agree very much in that Jozsef's content is universal and is more able to be translated than others. I don't think his work is trite, by any means, although that can be applied to a lot of Petofi's work (Ady's as well). Jozsef really displays a strong psychological element to his poetry, as opposed to the heavy nationalistic sentiment of Petofi. I haven't had much experience with Weores, but I've heard his work is remarkable. I think I would add Kosztolanyi to the list of 'untranslatable' authors.

On a very small scale, I've same experience as Eddie - with a Russian author, whose poem I've attempted to translate in English.

I put more stress on content, using same metaphors and following original's flow of thoughts, but I also tried to keep up with his rythmic structure, which I think is equally important.

I sent the result to the poet and he (subtly...) expressed his displeasure for the absence of similar phonethics in my translation.

I understand author's desire to see most adequate translation possible, but there is also this purely technical difficulty: of available phonetically close synonims some don't fit metrically and some bring irrelevant sub-meanings.

I realize, of course, that professional translator would take it as an exciting challenge. As eddie said, low ambition and talent on my part.

"I sent the result to the poet and he (subtly...) expressed his displeasure for the absence of similar phonethics in my translation."

Perhaps he would have like a magic pony as well ...

Just come across this. I wish it (my translation of the Weöres Sixth Symphony) were as "almost successful" as you suggest, Christopher. Failure, alas.

On the other hand there are bits of my Kosztolányi, the poetry and the fiction, of Szabó and even bits of József, I am rather proud of.

Hi, I would like to read your translations. I'm Hungarian and was trying to translate a few of my favorites into English, and I agree: you have to sacrifice something: either the subtleties, which are SO important in Hungarian poetry, or the rhytm, or the rhyme or meaning...
Either way, any of you has an English version of Kosztolanyi's "Akarsz-e jatszani?"

And an Austrian one, Grillparzer's Kiss. Anyone familiar with that?
Thanks,

eszter