A Study on Georgian Translations of Byron’s “Napoleonic Poems”

Abstract

This article reviews a collection of poems by the English romantic poet, George Gordon Byron (1788-1824), who dedicated his remarkable poems to the famous European Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821). These magnificent Napoleonic poems were translated by prominent Georgian poets: Grigol Abashidze (“Ode (From the French)”), Ioseb Bakradze (“Prometheus”), and outstanding scholar, translator Innes Merabishvili (“Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte”). The word “ode” in terms of the genre specificity matches the verse depicting the praise of a prominent figure. Abashidze translated only some stanzas of the poem. However, the literary society does not know from which language he performed his translation. By combining the thoughts of scholars, it is well-known how popular Napoleon was as a prominent world political figure. The poems dedicated to him retained popularity in Georgian cultural space. The analysis of Baratashvili’s poem “Napoleon” revealed that certain parts of the poem were written at different times and then it was composed as a whole piece. It is noteworthy that “The Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte” was first translated into Georgian in the 20th century by scholar and translator, Innes Merabishvili, who used her innovative translation method (“A Linguistic Image”) to translate this great poem. As a professional translator, she was able to express the entire concept and give an excellent sample of translation to the public through her translation of the source text.