Translating Patrick Kavanagh

Abstract

The following concerns the translation I did of a selection of the poetry of Patrick Kavanagh into Spanish, the first translation of this important Irish poet into the Spanish language. It recounts the motives which impelled me to try this daunting task as well as the guidelines I followed, the help I received and the pitfalls I encountered and, hopefully, survived. It looks at some of the images and expressions used by the author and which need to be explained to students and it essays a comparison with the poetry of Antonio Machado, another much loved poet.