The poem The Eclipse by American poet Richard Eberhart (1904 - 2005), is translated into ASL by Jolanta Lapiak. The video shows an interpreted poem in ASL that it shows how grammatical elements are arranged in harmony.
The Eclipse
I stood out in the open cold
To see the essence of the eclipse
Which was its perfect darkness.
I stood in the cold on the porch
And could not think of anything so perfect
As mans hope of light in the face of darkness.
By Richard Eberhart, American poet (1904 - 2005).
Since every language has a different grammatical structure that, thus, affects the structure of the poem or another element, I rearranged the structure a bit to maintain the concept of the poem and the grammatical harmony in ASL in a different structure from the original poem.
For example, my opening began with the scene ("open cold") which comes before "I stood". It began with the description of the scene and context before it comes to the details. It is known as "topicalization" in ASL.
Another example in my ASL translation is that the ASL phrase "hope of light" occurs at the end after the phrase "in the face of darkness." It is logical and harmonious in this way. If it were to follow the order of words in the last line in this original poem, the translation in ASL would probably result in, like, "flattening out the flame or light of hope". The last line in this English works well but translation can result in a different concept if the same structure is preserved. In interpretation from a language to another, concept is a paramount to preserve the meaning.
You may be also interested in Blending with the Wind: a poem.
New to sign language? "Where do I start?" or "How do I start learning sign language?" This ASL Rookie guide lists some selected links to the tutorials for ASL beginners to get started and keep rolling. It may be a useful review for intermediate-level learners and ASL students as well.
Some tutorial pages are a mix of free and premium versions. Access to premium content and links below are available in the PatronPlus subscription. More links/posts will be added from time to time.
Are you able to carry everyday conversations in ASL? Are you a student in the intermediate levels and beyond, who wishes to boost up your signing skills? You've come to the selected tutorial series. (Some premium content are available to PatronPlus membership.)
Stories, poems, performance arts, etc. in sign language.
This documentation project follows a child's language acquisition, literacy development, and phonological acquisition in sign language, specifically ASL, from newborn to age five in a natural native-ASL environment and visual culture.