Do you prefer Verse or Prose translations of epic poems?

I have read a prose translation and just started reading (and having trouble putting down) a verse translation of Ovid’s Metamorphisis and i can’t understand why they even bother making prose translations but there must be a market for them or they wouldn’t do it. Which do you prefer?

I prefer verse but to someone to whom a work of literature is a first time read then I recommend a prose version simply because it is more ‘accessible’ and I always hope that they will go on to read the verse translations .
I am a big fan of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey and will buy whatever I can get my hands on !
A good QUESTion !
:0)

Written by rob on January 31st, 2010 with 4 comments.
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Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com HOPLITE2501
#1. February 1st, 2010, at 4:33 AM.

I prefer verse but to someone to whom a work of literature is a first time read then I recommend a prose version simply because it is more ‘accessible’ and I always hope that they will go on to read the verse translations .
I am a big fan of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey and will buy whatever I can get my hands on !
A good QUESTion !
:0)
References :

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com truefirstedition
#2. February 1st, 2010, at 5:22 AM.

Verse translations, provided they capture the beauty of the language. Dante’s Divine Comedy, I think, really demands a verse translation – the structure of the terza rima reflects the structure and meaning of the story he tells.
References :

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com Thought
#3. February 1st, 2010, at 5:48 AM.

Prose translations are better at getting the original meaning across while Verse translations are better at getting the "feel" of the original across. Short of learning the original language, both are quite useful.
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Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com neston
#4. February 1st, 2010, at 6:09 AM.

Definitely verse translations. ‘The Canterbury Tales’ wouldn’t be the same in prose.
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