Four particular features of the site are worth noting, since they have underpinned its establishment, and will shape its development:

i)

it is the practice of translation, rather than its theory, that is emphasised here. Theories of translation have been much explored and widely promulgated in recent years; but it is the actual practical business of translating this word, or line, or rhythmic pulse, or syntactic order, that is at the centre of the site.

ii)

the translations that appear will always placed in parallel against the original text - and for a fundamental reason. There is no more severe test, or more compelling verbal and imaginative dynamic, than to present original and translated texts side by side.

iii)

the translations will always be accompanied by an introductory essay, or notes, or other contextual material that will highlight the relationship between the original text and the translation.

iv)

the initial choice of texts naturally reflects a personal and special interest. But as the site develops, it will open up larger questions: how to translate from a language that is both personally native and yet distant (medieval English), or from an ostensibly `foreign' tongue that is partly known (French, German, Italian, Spanish)? How to translate, if at all, from a language that may be entirely unknown to the translator (Chinese, Persian, Urdu)?

The development of these features, especially the last, will be announced at regular intervals in the Updates and Projects section (see link bar to the left).