Introduction to Icelandic

The poems below showcase an interesting problem in homophonic translation: rhyme.  How to preserve the rhyme scheme of a poem in Icelandic when constrained by the words available in English?  I would like to start with an analysis of rhyme scheme in the original Icelandic text.  Next, I will compare and contrast original poem to the homophonic translation.  It is my hope that careful consideration of the sound and meaning of the poem and its translation will yield new insights about the function of end-rhyme in poetry. 

I am analyzing this poem from knowledge of the canonical forms of English poetry.  (I do not yet know anything about Icelandic poetry.)  The form of the end-rhyme is ababcdcdefefghgh.  This is similar to the rhyme schemes and lengths of sonnets and villanelles.  Only once, are the same sounds repeated; the end-rhyme scheme might also be notated as ababcdcdefefgbgb.  The last word of the second line is actually repeated in the poem as the last word of the last line.  Such repetition of end-rhyme and words is very similar to a villanelle.  I suspect that the repeated rhymed word has undergone a change in meaning through out the course of the poem.  By placing the word in a different context of sounds and meaning, the poet Sigurdardottir has altered the role of the word in the poem. 

In fact, I would like to rewrite this poem as a villanelle.  Valentine is the villanelle inspired by this poem-translation-problem.  Certainly, this sister poem is a looser translation.  In fact, I doubt there is a term for such a poem.  Suggestions?  I’m particularly curious if readers can see a connection between the three poems.  It is important to me that readers recognize a connection between the three translations. 

In my homophonic translation of the poem, I focused on preserving the pairs of rhymed words.  Upon reviewing my work I noticed a disturbing pattern.  Many of the Icelandic words had endings that could only be matched to English words by a near rhyme.  Most often the sound was “er.”  Therefore, my translation poem’s rhyme scheme was aaaaaaaaababcaca.  The rhyme scheme of the original poem is almost completely lost in what is otherwise a faithful homophonic translation.  Since rhyme is sound, it seems important to revise this translation to generate a translation true to both the sounds of specific words and the rhyme scheme.