I agree with that Davis quote. I believe that those who object to what he is saying don't really understand what literary translation is. They don't want to think of it as something that requires artistry, talent, skill, craft, and poetic insight. They want to delude themselves into thinking that a translation is just a mechanical, ministerial exercise, not a creative act on the part of the translator, and they don't want to have to trust the aesthetic judgments and decisions of the translator (as if those judgments and decisions could be dispensed with in favor of something they would call literal).
Ultimately, much depends on what the reader of the translation is looking for. If they just want a tool that will allow them to read the original, that's one thing. But if they never intend to look at the original, and they are simply looking for the enjoyment of reading a poem that happens (now) to be written in English, it's another thing entirely.
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