The aim of this translation is to render as accurately as possible both the meaning of Lorca’s words and the ‘feeling’ of the play as a whole. As far as the former is concerned, it is important not to dilute the Spanishness of Lorca’s language by seeking approximations or equivalents which will make the dialogue more polished, more acceptable, and ultimately more cosy for an English-speaking audience. The dialogue of Blood Wedding is often extremely stark and concise, the exchanges between characters conducted in short, sharp phrases which instantly communicate strong feeling; while intense emotion is expressed in longer, more arching sentences appropriate to the feeling which underlies them. In either case it is essential that an English translation should seek to capture the rhythms of this most ‘operatic’ and passionate of twentieth-century Spanish dramatists, be it in relation to the prose or the poetry of the play.
The poetry of Blood Wedding takes the form of songs in Acts One and Two, while in Act Three the dialogue itself is often in verse. In either case the original is not normally characterized by rhyme but by assonance: the last word of alternate lines has the same two vowels, one stressed, the other unstressed: ‘mojádă’ plátă,‘relinchábă’. Since English cannot easily achieve this effect, I have opted for rhyming patterns in the case of the songs and free verse for the poetry of Act Three.
Despite my intention to translate Lorca with accuracy, it should be understood that this is not a literal translation, which would make it unplayable. My whole purpose is to produce a translation suited to stage performance.