Translation as transcreation and reincarnation

Abstract This article discusses strategies for translating poetry. The points of departure are the categories of poetic translation listed by Andre Lefevere. The idea that poets are the best translators of poetry, is discussed by referrint to a series of poet translators (T. S. Eliot, Andre Gide) to Tagore. The article presents Tagore's explicit views on translation and then documents in detail in the way in which Tagore, who insisted that his poetry should be read in the original Bengali, transcreated his poetry or gave poems new incarnations in English. Against this background, the author concludes that this genetic approach should be added to the list of strategies for poetry translation.