Eamon Barkhordarian

9/6/09
Period C
Moyer

Cyrano Translation Comparison

There are three specific differences between the Brian Hooker and Anthony Burgess

translations of Cyrano de Bergerac. First of all, Anthony Burgess’s version of Cyrano’s long

speech actually rhymes, which is pretty impressive considering the length of his speech and the

point he is trying to get across. Secondly, Brian Hooker’s version is much more simple and

easier to understand than Burgess’s version. And lastly, while Anthony Burgess’s poem is more

consistent with its rhymes, Brian Hooker’s version is more consistent with its word structure.

The first major difference between the two translations is Anthony Burgess’s version

actually rhymes. The entire speech Cyrano tells Le Bret is rhymed every two lines in a consistent

format. And the surprising thing is he still brings Cyrano’s point across even though Burgess

rhymed it so perfectly. This is pretty impressive given this is the translation of a book. (* Given

the original book also rhymed). No translation can maintain the original language’s rhymes, so

Burgess’s must have taken a considerable amount of time to maintain the book’s rhyme and still

get the same point across that the original French version had.

Secondly, and not to much surprise, Brian Hooker’s version is much easier to understand

in comparison to Burgess’s poem. When you try to rhyme a poem, you are very limited to which

words you can use to describe what you are trying to express. In Brian Hooker’s case though, he

did not have to worry about the limitation of rhyming, and as a result made his point much easier

for the reader to understand. He didn’t use such complex words as Anthony, and used much

more detail in his writing and not as much confusing symbolism.

Lastly, it is very apparent that the structures of the two authors writing differ greatly. As I

explained before, Burgess is very consistent with his rhymes in a constant 2 line format. Hooker,
 Eamon Barkhordarian
9/6/09
Period C
Moyer
on the other hand, structures his words better. For example, throughout Cyrano’s long speech, he

always writes “no thank you!” In Burgess’s case, he alternates from “no thank you” to “no

thanks” to “thank you, no.” Although this difference doesn’t seem too big in the comparison, it is

a very noticeable difference between the two translator’s interpretations.

In the end, I would definitely choose Hooker’s translation more than Burgess’s version.

Although his speech is not as entertaining with the rhymes and symbolism, it definitely is a lot

easier to understand. I believe I would have difficulty understanding Burgess’s translation had I

not had the guidance of Hooker’s version prior to reading Burgess’s version. I would choose to

understand a book more than to enjoy it, because you can’t enjoy a book you don’t understand it

in the first place.