Was William James referring to poetry in the quote you include here? If so, in that light, he would seem to be a kind of precursor to Strauss. Meanwhile, I like your comparison of translation to problem solving. Indeed! And your reference to the muses, so courted in past ages, but so often forgotten in our own. One last thing: when I have translated a poem, my desire has been to immerse myself so deeply into the original that I might almost become one flesh with it, as it were, and only then be able to bring forth an entirely new poem of my own.
James was not specifically talking about poetry. The "gap" he describes is the psychological effect of not being able to remember a name. The feeling of the name is there, but nevertheless, the word does not come. I think it's an apt parallel for the way poetry can signify through indirection.
Was William James referring to poetry in the quote you include here? If so, in that light, he would seem to be a kind of precursor to Strauss. Meanwhile, I like your comparison of translation to problem solving. Indeed! And your reference to the muses, so courted in past ages, but so often forgotten in our own. One last thing: when I have translated a poem, my desire has been to immerse myself so deeply into the original that I might almost become one flesh with it, as it were, and only then be able to bring forth an entirely new poem of my own.
James was not specifically talking about poetry. The "gap" he describes is the psychological effect of not being able to remember a name. The feeling of the name is there, but nevertheless, the word does not come. I think it's an apt parallel for the way poetry can signify through indirection.