Burton Raffel's translation of Beowulf appeared in 1963, eleven years after that of Edwin Morgan. Raffel would go on to be a prolific and admired translator of poetry (and prose) from many languages, ancient and modern, but, as was the case with Morgan, his translation of Beowulf comes from early in his literary career. It is the confident and energetic work of a young writer, and it comes indeed from a time that was one of ostensible confidence and optimism in the larger dominant culture as well. Like Morgan, having previously done translations of other Old English poems, Raffel had moved very soon afterwards to the much more ambitious undertaking of translating Beowulf (using Klaeber's third edition as his basic text). Since then, of course, both poets have had long and distinguished careers, though moving in very different directions.

Raffel on Raffel

Raffel has written much in explanation and justification of his translation of Beowulf in particular and of his approach to translation in general. He insists in his Yale Review essay ‘On Translating Beowulf’ on the creative subjectivity of the poet-translator, who ‘needs to master the original in order to leave it’. The poet-translator must not be trapped by the original but must be guided by ‘the necessity of self-expression’ and by an ‘inner voice’: ‘The greatest sin a translator can commit, accordingly, is to fail to breathe life into his recreation. He can never breathe life into it if he is unable to force himself away from the original, and far enough away so that he can be close in spirit and yet be free to create in the new linguistic medium.’