ABSTRACT
In Chapters 5 and 6 we looked at denotative and connotative meaning. In this chapter, we conclude our consideration of the semantic level of language by examining the translation of metaphor. Metaphor is typically used to describe something (whether concrete or abstract) more concisely, with greater emotional force, and more often more exactly, than is possible in literal language. Compare even a cliche like 'Bush slams Buchanan' with the more literal 'Bush harshly criticizes Buchanan'. Of course, an original metaphor is likely to be more expressive than an unoriginal one. But it is also likely to be more imprecise, more open to interpretation - indeed, the expressive force of a metaphor often depends on this very imprecision. For instance, Shakespeare's '[Love] is the star to every wand'ring bark' expresses concisely and intensely the unmovableness and reliability of love in a shifting, uncertain and dangerous world. But why 'the star' and not 'a star'? Why a ship ('bark') and not, say, a walker or a desert caravan? The image of navigating the seas by the pole star is full of resonances which makes Shakespeare's metaphor less precise, but much more expressive, than 'Bush slams Buchanan'.
