Translation of poem (short)

[Amory]

I attempted to translate literally into Spanish prose some lines of Alexander Pope's An Essay on Criticism. Could someone please check it to see if it makes sense?

Tis hard to say, if greater Want of Skill
Appear in Writing or in Judging ill,
But, of the two, less dang'rous is th' Offence,
To tire our Patience, than mis-lead our Sense:
Some few in that, but Numbers err in this,
Ten Censure wrong for one who Writes amiss;
A Fool might once himself alone expose,
Now One in Verse makes many more in Prose.

Es difícil notar si exige mas talento el escribir o mal juzgar, pero de los dos es menos peligroso agotar nuestra paciencia que extraviar el sentido. Hay pocos del aquel pero muchos del este; diez juzga mal por cada mal escritor. Un tonto solo pudiera quedarse en ridículo; ahora por cada poeta, muchos más de prosista.

'Tis with our Judgments as our Watches, none
Go just alike, yet each believes his own.
In Poets as true Genius is but rare,
True Taste as seldom is the Critick's Share;
Both must alike from Heav'n derive their Light,
These born to Judge, as well as those to Write.
Let such teach others who themselves excell,
And censure freely who have written well.

Como nuestros relojes, ni dos opiniones pasan igual y aun cada cree en su propia. El genio verdadero es raro en los poetas, asimismo el critico rara vez tiene el gusto verdadero. Los dos necesitan obtener su talento del Cielo, estos nacidos para juzgar y aquellos para escribir. Enseñen tales que sobresalen y critiquen que han escrito bien.

[aleCcowaN]

Originally Posted by Amory

I attempted to translate literally into Spanish prose some lines of Alexander Pope's An Essay on Criticism. Could someone please check it to see if it makes sense?

Tis hard to say, if greater Want of Skill
Appear in Writing or in Judging ill,
But, of the two, less dang'rous is th' Offence,
To tire our Patience, than mis-lead our Sense:
Some few in that, but Numbers err in this,
Ten Censure wrong for one who Writes amiss;
A Fool might once himself alone expose,
Now One in Verse makes many more in Prose.

Es difícil notar si exige mas talento el escribir o mal juzgar, pero de los dos es menos peligroso agotar nuestra paciencia que extraviar el sentido. Hay pocos del aquel pero muchos del este; diez juzga mal por cada mal escritor. Un tonto solo pudiera quedarse en ridículo; ahora por cada poeta, muchos más de prosista.

I doubt my ability to understand 1700's English but:

Hay pocos en lo primero, pero muchos pecan* de lo último. Diez censuran por cada mal escritor. Bien pudo un tonto ponerse en evidencia solo; hoy uno en verso pone a muchos más en prosa.


* Though "pecan" resembles the modern use of "err", it's used similar to its old meaning "stray".

[Amory]

Thank you very much. I'll say the second paragraph is then correct.

[aleCcowaN]

No, it has many mistakes in different levels. Besides the pretty unsurmountable problem of casting English verses into a valid Spanish expressive style.

First, saying the same in Spanish takes about 120% of the space it takes in English. When poetry is involved maybe it is 150% or more to get the minimum of it.

"'Tis with our Judgments as our Watches, none
Go just alike, yet each believes his own."

"Con nuestros juicios como con nuestros relojes, no hay dos que marchen
a la par y aún así cada quien da fe del suyo."

The final product should look in the lines of this.