I asked myself, How do people usually translate the Old English word eala, the ancestor of alas? The dictionaries give O and Oh as possibilities as well as alas. But what I found in poems was mostly alas. And it felt like the only right choice, in the context of high diction and serious, ancient content and lament.
Andrew, what Italian expressions raise the question? Could we investigate how (for example) John Ciardi handled them? He was big on using contemporary English in his translations of Dante.
Actually, I do use alas in speech, but I know I'm being faux-archaic. And people already think I'm weird.
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