Charles Guenther
Encyclopedia
Charles Guenther was an American poet, critic and translator.
He was born in St. Louis, Missouri
. His book, Phrase/Paraphrase, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize
in Poetry.
Charles Guenther was a prolific American poet and translator. He translated thousands of poems into English from languages such as French, Italian, Spanish, Eskimo, Greek, German and Hungarian. He corresponded with scores of authors, including Ezra Pound
, Kirkwood, Mo. native Marianne Moore
, and E.E. Cummings. Ezra Pound, who Guenther met in 1951, was a great influence on Guenther’s work, particularly his translations.
Guenther also wrote original formal and free verse poetry, in addition to his translations. He was a literary critic for 50 years.
. In his essay, "On the Art of Translation," he said "I spent hours in the library reading poetry
, especially European poetry
, in translation
at first and later in the original language
."
Upon graduation from high school at age 17, Guenther worked as a copy boy for the St. Louis Star-Times. This work, Guenther said, was influential on his experience as a writer
. “Newspaper
people—then, anyway—were a special and temperamental breed. It exposed you to the human comedy
.”
He was a graduate of Harris Teachers College, earned a master’s degree at Webster College (now Webster University
) and did doctoral work in languages at St. Louis University.
, librarian
and supervisory cartographer for the U.S. Air Force. He was employed at the Aeronautical Chart and Information Center of St. Louis for 30 years.
In 1953 Guenther began writing literary reviews for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
, retiring from that position in 2003. He also wrote for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat
from 1972 to 1982. Guenther said he considered reviewing a “civic honor.” In his work as a newspaper
book
critic
, he reviewed work by hundreds of authors, such as Seamus Heaney
, Ted Hughes
, William Stafford
, Mona Van Duyn
and Anthony Hecht
.
. He wrote in traditional rhyming verse
; while frequently employing free verse
. His subjects were varied, from wintry rural scenes “Snow Country,” regional “Missouri
Woods,” and nature “Spring Catalog.”
The poem "Three Faces of Autumn," (from the book Phrase/Paraphrase) is an example of Guenther's sometimes concise, clipped style:
(from Part I, "Three Faces of Autumn")
Other poems, like "Escalator" and "Arch" were more experimental and avant-garde. Guenther also wrote elegies and poems commemorative of places, people and events.
Guenther also worked tirelessly to promote poetry and poets. He was a frequent correspondent and mentored many younger poets. For 15 years he served as Regional Midwest Vice-President for the Poetry Society of America
.
In an essay entitled "Reflections," from the book Three Faces of Autumn," Guenther credits Ezra Pound
as an early influence on his work. The two met in 1951 when Guenther visited Pound while he was incarcerated at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C. Guenther said, "It was the start of a lively correspondence with this fascinating, obstinate poet
who had put new vigor into American literature."
Guenther was also versatile in his translation
work. He translated into English from such varying poets as Edgar Degas
, Paul Valéry
, Pablo Neruda
, Salvatore Quasimodo
and Dante Alighieri
. Guenther also extensively translated the works of Garcilaso de la Vega
, Juan Ramón Jiménez
, Jules Laforgue
and Jean Wahl
.
Most of his translations and poetry
were published in literary publications, including The American Poetry Review
, Black Mountain Review, The Formalist
and The Kenyon Review
Italy
in 1973 decorated Guenther with a knighthood with its Commendatore Ordine al Merito della Repubblica (Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
). Other nations also honored Guenther for his work in translating their native poets into English, many for the first time. About the work of translation, Guenther wrote, “In a great poem there is something magic, a haunting spirit. It’s so rare that you keep looking for it.”
In an essay concerning the craft of translation in Guardian of Grief: Poems of Giacomo Leopardi, Guenther claimed most of his translations were “reformations,” recasting “a foreign poem into its original form or free verse form.” Guenther said “My own practice when translating early poets is to place them in their own time, with a hint of antiquity, avoiding the grossly archaic language of their contemporaries. My purpose is to make a poem from a poem.”
The last stanza of Guenther’s translation of Giacomo Leopardi
’s “The Calm After the Storm,” is an example of the Italian translations for which he was renowned:
In the Introduction to Three Faces of Autumn, Guenther said recognition was important, but “It is the work, not the prize or the honor, that matters most. The work endures.”
A poem by José Agustín Goytisolo
(entitled “The Difficult Poem”), which Guenther translated and is the last selection in The Hippopotamus: Selected Translations 1945-1985, seems to sum up the translation process:
(1973)
James Joyce Award
, Poetry Society of America (1974)
French-American Bicentennial Medal (1976)
Witter Bynner Translation Grant, Poetry Society of America (1979)
Missouri Arts Award (2001)
St. Louis Arts Award (2001)
Emmanuel Robles International Award in Poetry (2002)
He was born in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. His book, Phrase/Paraphrase, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
in Poetry.
Charles Guenther was a prolific American poet and translator. He translated thousands of poems into English from languages such as French, Italian, Spanish, Eskimo, Greek, German and Hungarian. He corresponded with scores of authors, including Ezra Pound
Ezra Pound
Ezra Weston Loomis Pound was an American expatriate poet and critic and a major figure in the early modernist movement in poetry...
, Kirkwood, Mo. native Marianne Moore
Marianne Moore
Marianne Moore was an American Modernist poet and writer noted for her irony and wit.- Life :Moore was born in Kirkwood, Missouri, in the manse of the Presbyterian church where her maternal grandfather, John Riddle Warner, served as pastor. She was the daughter of mechanical engineer and inventor...
, and E.E. Cummings. Ezra Pound, who Guenther met in 1951, was a great influence on Guenther’s work, particularly his translations.
Guenther also wrote original formal and free verse poetry, in addition to his translations. He was a literary critic for 50 years.
Early life
Guenther started writing and translating poetry at age 15 while a student at Roosevelt High School in Kirkwood, MissouriKirkwood, Missouri
Kirkwood is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis, located in St. Louis County, Missouri. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,540. Founded in 1853, the city is named for James Pugh Kirkwood, builder of the Pacific Railroad through that town. It was the first planned suburb located west...
. In his essay, "On the Art of Translation," he said "I spent hours in the library reading poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
, especially European poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
, in translation
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
at first and later in the original language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
."
Upon graduation from high school at age 17, Guenther worked as a copy boy for the St. Louis Star-Times. This work, Guenther said, was influential on his experience as a writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
. “Newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
people—then, anyway—were a special and temperamental breed. It exposed you to the human comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
.”
He was a graduate of Harris Teachers College, earned a master’s degree at Webster College (now Webster University
Webster University
Webster University is an American non-profit private university with its main campus in Webster Groves, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. Webster University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools...
) and did doctoral work in languages at St. Louis University.
Career
During World War II he translated information for the U.S. Army Air Corps, tracking such details as the opening and closing of foreign runways. He worked at various times as a historianHistorian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, librarian
Librarian
A librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...
and supervisory cartographer for the U.S. Air Force. He was employed at the Aeronautical Chart and Information Center of St. Louis for 30 years.
In 1953 Guenther began writing literary reviews for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is the major city-wide newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri. Although written to serve Greater St. Louis, the Post-Dispatch is one of the largest newspapers in the Midwestern United States, and is available and read as far west as Kansas City, Missouri, as far south as...
, retiring from that position in 2003. He also wrote for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat
St. Louis Globe-Democrat
The St. Louis Globe-Democrat was originally a daily print newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri from 1852 until 1986...
from 1972 to 1982. Guenther said he considered reviewing a “civic honor.” In his work as a newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
critic
Critic
A critic is anyone who expresses a value judgement. Informally, criticism is a common aspect of all human expression and need not necessarily imply skilled or accurate expressions of judgement. Critical judgements, good or bad, may be positive , negative , or balanced...
, he reviewed work by hundreds of authors, such as Seamus Heaney
Seamus Heaney
Seamus Heaney is an Irish poet, writer and lecturer. He lives in Dublin. Heaney has received the Nobel Prize in Literature , the Golden Wreath of Poetry , T. S. Eliot Prize and two Whitbread prizes...
, Ted Hughes
Ted Hughes
Edward James Hughes OM , more commonly known as Ted Hughes, was an English poet and children's writer. Critics routinely rank him as one of the best poets of his generation. Hughes was British Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death.Hughes was married to American poet Sylvia Plath, from 1956 until...
, William Stafford
William Stafford
William Edgar Stafford was an American poet and pacifist, and the father of poet and essayist Kim Stafford. He was appointed the twentieth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1970....
, Mona Van Duyn
Mona Van Duyn
Mona Jane Van Duyn was an American poet. She was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1992.-Early years:Van Duyn was born in Waterloo, Iowa. She grew up in the small town of Eldora Mona Jane Van Duyn (9 May 1921 – 2 December 2004) was an American poet. She was...
and Anthony Hecht
Anthony Hecht
Anthony Evan Hecht was an American poet. His work combined a deep interest in form with a passionate desire to confront the horrors of 20th century history, with the Second World War, in which he fought, and the Holocaust being recurrent themes in his work.-Early years:Hecht was born in New York...
.
Original Poetry
Charles Guenther was prolific in writing original poetryPoetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
. He wrote in traditional rhyming verse
Verse (poetry)
A verse is formally a single line in a metrical composition, e.g. poetry. However, the word has come to represent any division or grouping of words in such a composition, which traditionally had been referred to as a stanza....
; while frequently employing free verse
Free verse
Free verse is a form of poetry that refrains from consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any other musical pattern.Poets have explained that free verse, despite its freedom, is not free. Free Verse displays some elements of form...
. His subjects were varied, from wintry rural scenes “Snow Country,” regional “Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
Woods,” and nature “Spring Catalog.”
The poem "Three Faces of Autumn," (from the book Phrase/Paraphrase) is an example of Guenther's sometimes concise, clipped style:
Now sunfire stains
the tupelos
and the shadows
in trapeziums
off the haybarns
straggle and gather
by rocks and birches
where the crickets'
still-fast whirr
cries against the closed
season
(from Part I, "Three Faces of Autumn")
Other poems, like "Escalator" and "Arch" were more experimental and avant-garde. Guenther also wrote elegies and poems commemorative of places, people and events.
Guenther also worked tirelessly to promote poetry and poets. He was a frequent correspondent and mentored many younger poets. For 15 years he served as Regional Midwest Vice-President for the Poetry Society of America
Poetry Society of America
The Poetry Society of America is a literary organization founded in 1910 by poets, editors, and artists including Witter Bynner. It is the oldest poetry organization in the United States. Past members of the have included such renowned writers as Robert Frost, Langston Hughes, Edna St. Vincent...
.
Translation work
Guenther, who translated since his teens, was prolific in translating poetry from roughly a dozen foreign languages. Many poets were translated into English for the first time by Guenther.In an essay entitled "Reflections," from the book Three Faces of Autumn," Guenther credits Ezra Pound
Ezra Pound
Ezra Weston Loomis Pound was an American expatriate poet and critic and a major figure in the early modernist movement in poetry...
as an early influence on his work. The two met in 1951 when Guenther visited Pound while he was incarcerated at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C. Guenther said, "It was the start of a lively correspondence with this fascinating, obstinate poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
who had put new vigor into American literature."
Guenther was also versatile in his translation
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
work. He translated into English from such varying poets as Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas[p] , born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, was a French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist...
, Paul Valéry
Paul Valéry
Ambroise-Paul-Toussaint-Jules Valéry was a French poet, essayist, and philosopher. His interests were sufficiently broad that he can be classified as a polymath...
, Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda was the pen name and, later, legal name of the Chilean poet, diplomat and politician Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. He chose his pen name after Czech poet Jan Neruda....
, Salvatore Quasimodo
Salvatore Quasimodo
Salvatore Quasimodo was an Italian author and poet. In 1959 he won the Nobel Prize for Literature "for his lyrical poetry, which with classical fire expresses the tragic experience of life in our own times". Along with Giuseppe Ungaretti and Eugenio Montale, he is one of the foremost Italian poets...
and Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri
Durante degli Alighieri, mononymously referred to as Dante , was an Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He is best known for the monumental epic poem La commedia, later named La divina commedia ...
. Guenther also extensively translated the works of Garcilaso de la Vega
Garcilaso de la Vega
Garcilaso de la Vega was a Spanish soldier and poet. He was the most influential poet to introduce Italian Renaissance verse forms, poetic techniques and themes to Spain.-Biography:...
, Juan Ramón Jiménez
Juan Ramón Jiménez
Juan Ramón Jiménez Mantecón was a Spanish poet, a prolific writer who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1956. One of Jiménez's most important contributions to modern poetry was his advocacy of the French concept of "pure poetry."-Biography:Jiménez was born in Moguer, near Huelva, in...
, Jules Laforgue
Jules Laforgue
Jules Laforgue was an innovative Franco-Uruguayan poet, often referred to as a Symbolist poet. Critics and commentators have also pointed to Impressionism as a direct influence and his poetry has been called "part-symbolist, part-impressionist".-Life:...
and Jean Wahl
Jean Wahl
Jean André Wahl was a French philosopher.-Early career:He was professor at the Sorbonne from 1936 to 1967, broken by World War II. He was in the U.S...
.
Most of his translations and poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
were published in literary publications, including The American Poetry Review
The American Poetry Review
The American Poetry Review is an American poetry magazine printed every other month on tabloid-sized newsprint.Founded in 1972 by Stephen Berg, APR has always been published from editorial offices in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Berg is one of three editors, along with David Bonanno and Elizabeth...
, Black Mountain Review, The Formalist
The Formalist
The Formalist: A Journal of Metrical Poetry was a literary periodical, edited by William Baer, which was published twice a year from 1990 to the fall/winter issue of 2004.The Formalist published contemporary, metrical verse...
and The Kenyon Review
The Kenyon Review
The Kenyon Review is a Literary magazine based in Gambier, Ohio, USA, home of Kenyon College. The Review was founded in 1939 by John Crowe Ransom, critic and professor of English at Kenyon College, who served as its editor until 1959...
Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in 1973 decorated Guenther with a knighthood with its Commendatore Ordine al Merito della Repubblica (Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic was founded as the senior order of knighthood by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi in 1951...
). Other nations also honored Guenther for his work in translating their native poets into English, many for the first time. About the work of translation, Guenther wrote, “In a great poem there is something magic, a haunting spirit. It’s so rare that you keep looking for it.”
In an essay concerning the craft of translation in Guardian of Grief: Poems of Giacomo Leopardi, Guenther claimed most of his translations were “reformations,” recasting “a foreign poem into its original form or free verse form.” Guenther said “My own practice when translating early poets is to place them in their own time, with a hint of antiquity, avoiding the grossly archaic language of their contemporaries. My purpose is to make a poem from a poem.”
The last stanza of Guenther’s translation of Giacomo Leopardi
Giacomo Leopardi
Giacomo Taldegardo Francesco di Sales Saverio Pietro Leopardi was an Italian poet, essayist, philosopher, and philologist...
’s “The Calm After the Storm,” is an example of the Italian translations for which he was renowned:
O kindly nature,
These are your gifts.
These are the delights
You offer mortals. It’s a pleasure
For us to be relieved of pain,
You spread pain freely; griefGriefGrief is a multi-faceted response to loss, particularly to the loss of someone or something to which a bond was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, it also has physical, cognitive, behavioral, social, and philosophical dimensions...
Rises spontaneously; and that bit of joy
Which by miracle and prodigy sometimes
Is born of anxietyAnxietyAnxiety is a psychological and physiological state characterized by somatic, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components. The root meaning of the word anxiety is 'to vex or trouble'; in either presence or absence of psychological stress, anxiety can create feelings of fear, worry, uneasiness,...
, it is a great gain. A human
Progeny dear to those eternal ones!
You’re lucky
Indeed if you can breathe again
After some grief: and blessed
If death heals every sorrow.
In the Introduction to Three Faces of Autumn, Guenther said recognition was important, but “It is the work, not the prize or the honor, that matters most. The work endures.”
A poem by José Agustín Goytisolo
José Agustín Goytisolo
José Agustín Goytisolo Gay, , was a Spanish poet, scholar and essayist. He was the brother of Juan Goytisolo and Luis Goytisolo, also writers.- Biography :...
(entitled “The Difficult Poem”), which Guenther translated and is the last selection in The Hippopotamus: Selected Translations 1945-1985, seems to sum up the translation process:
The poem is inside
and doesn’t want to get out.
It pounds in my head
doesn’t want to get out.
I shout, I tremble,
and it doesn’t want to get out.
I call it by name
and it doesn’t want to get out.
Later down the street
it stands before me.
Awards
The Order of Merit of the Italian RepublicOrder of Merit of the Italian Republic
The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic was founded as the senior order of knighthood by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi in 1951...
(1973)
James Joyce Award
James Joyce Award
The James Joyce Award is an award given by the Literary and Historical Society of University College Dublin for those who have achieved outstanding success in their given field...
, Poetry Society of America (1974)
French-American Bicentennial Medal (1976)
Witter Bynner Translation Grant, Poetry Society of America (1979)
Missouri Arts Award (2001)
St. Louis Arts Award (2001)
Emmanuel Robles International Award in Poetry (2002)
External links
- http://interact.stltoday.com/blogzone/book-blog/book-blog/2008/07/funeral-announced-for-poet-charles-guenther/
- http://business.highbeam.com/435553/article-1G1-181861734/charles-guenther-poet-translator-literary-reviewer
- http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-9019276/Charles-Guenther-Poet-translator-literary.html
- http://www.pw.org/content/charles_guenther_1
- http://www.stlwritersguild.org/spotlightarchives/2005/CelebrationSpotlight/CelebrationSpotlight.pdf
- http://johnhemingway.blogspot.com/2008/07/charles-guenther-american-poet.html
- http://edwardsteinhardt.blogspot.com/2008/08/guardian-of-grief-poems-of-giacomo.html
- http://www.umsl.edu/~whmc/guides/whm0358.htm
- http://library.wustl.edu/units/spec/manuscripts/mlc/guenther/guenther.html
- http://theformalist.evansville.edu/vol1222001.htm