[Len Krisak]

Thanks, Bill !

[Tim Murphy]

I wanted to include two other very ambitious poems, still under construction, for our Guest Lariat's delectation. The first is Patricia's "Etiquette Lesson," which is now finished to her satisfaction (and mine.) Posted nearby. Hope to have the other this weekend.

[Rhina P. Espaillat]

Mr. Wilbur, welcome to Eratosphere, and thank you for honoring us with this visit!

I have a question about translation, an art I've been trying very hard to learn. When you translate, how do you rank such conflicting obligations as fidelity to the sound but also the sense of the original; the creation of the best poem in English you can make--which will be, willy-nilly, your own--while conveying the work of another poet; the need to use English to reproduce the music of a poem in another language, whose poetic practices may be unfamiliar to English readers; the urge to "sell" the original to new readers, and yet resist the temptation to take excessive liberties and "improve upon" that original? What do you consider your most binding obligation as a translator? Are there liberties you will never take?

[Kevin Andrew Murphy]

Mr. Wilbur, my question: Which methods do you use to choose rhymes, and which do you prefer? Also, how often do you revise your rhymes as you work?