Not-so-Ancient Mariner

[Stefan Diös]

Timo:

>I'm looking for different translations for poem Donald is reciting for the 
>ship cruise contest in Barks' story "Not-So-Ancient Mariner". I believe 
>he's reciting these actual lines from Coleridge's poem


And so do I! :-)

The Swedish version, fortunately, uses wordings from a real Coleridge 
translation (by Ragnar Eklund). It goes:

"Gud hjälp dig, gamle Sjöman!
Från plågans andar loss!
Vad felas dig?" - "Jag grep en pil
Och sköt vår ALBATROSS."

I wonder if Donald Duck might not have done at least as much to make these 
lines famous in Sweden as has Coleridge himself. I'll never forget our 
literature classes in high school in 1978, when I could show the teacher 
that story (in Kalle Anka & C:o #24/1967). That sparkled her interest in 
comics and she became a member of NAFS(k), our Donaldist society.

Don Rosa also used a Coleridge poem once, in "Return to Xanadu". When 
translating that story, I likewise did my best to find a Swedish rendering 
of "Kubla Khan" and used one by Anders Österling.


Stefan Diös
Stockholm / Malmö, Sweden