Shakespeare’s The Tempest was written in 1611; hence, the English that it was written in is significantly different from the contemporary English spoken in all the English-speaking countries today. The language in which Shakespeare wrote The Tempest is described as Early Modern English, a language that was spoken between the year 1500 and 1750 in modern-day Britain and is often referred to as Shakespeare’s English or Elizabethan English.
Around the end of the 16th century, Middle English was fast fading away, giving rise to an English that bears a lot of similarity to the one that we speak today. However, even today, no English is the same, and there are different variations of the same language spoken in the United States, Australia, and England, hence, the need to specify whether it is American English, Australian English, or British English, but the difference is small anyway, and the language is mutually comprehensible.
To highlight the difference between Shakespeare’s English and Modern English, consider Act 1 Scene 1 of the original play, which begins with the master calling out to the bo’sun who then replies, “Here, master, what cheer?” In modern English, the bo’sun’s answer would just be “yes, captain.” Given that the ship’s masters are called captains in contemporary English. Next, in Shakespeare’s English, the captain instructs the bo’sun by saying, “Good, speak to the mariners: fall to’t, yarely, or we run ourselves aground: bestir, bestir.” Although the Middle English statement retorted by the captain is difficult to understand, in contemporary English, it would be translated to, “get all hands on deck, or we’all run ourselves aground, quick, quick!” Notice that the word ‘bestir’ becomes ‘quick!”
There are a lot of differences between Middle English and Modern English. For instance, Middle English had a lot of french influence while modern English developed on its own as a version of Middle English. Consider, by the eleventh century, a lot of Norman conquests were happening in today’s Britain, which significantly influenced the English language. England was conquered by the duke of Normandy in 1066, after which several impressions got infused into the English language, including a significant number of French impressions. However, beginning the 15th century, the flux towards modern English started taking shape, which can be seen in pronunciation.
In Anne Carson’s essay, “Variations on the right to remain silent,” she mentions that in some instances, every translator should know that some words cannot be translated into another language, and it is best that they remain in the language of the original text. Carson says, “But now what if, within this silence, you discover a deeper one—a word that does not intend to be translatable. A word that stops itself.” In Shakespeare’s play below, the phrase that beats translation from Middle English is “run ourselves aground” The term is a phrasal verb meaning hitting the shore and is less often used today, most commonly replaced with the phrase ‘landed.’
Modern Translation: The Tempest.
Act 1, Scene 1
The storm was wild, the sea was violent, the wind was very strong, and it roared with demonic shrillness, relentlessly beating on the ship, sending it in moments of violent up and down dips. The captain had lost control. He called out to the bo’sun, but the wind carried most of the sound away. Bo’sun shouted back saying, “here, captain’. The captain said, all hands on deck, or we’ll run ourselves aground.” The bo’sun struggled to make his way through the wind and storm, trying to get the crew members to work towards bringing down the sails. The bo’sun shouted, “heave my hearties!” and pointed to areas that needed more muscle. Moreover, he directed them on when to lower the topsail or when to listen to the captain’s whistle.
Out of curiosity and a feeling of obligation to help, the passengers in the ship, Alonso, the king of Naples, his brother Sebastian and his son, Ferdinand: Antonio, the Duke of Milan, and the elderly courtier, Gonzalo, came out of the deck one by one. God knows they were worried. The passengers were on their way to Naples after attending Tunisia’s wedding. Tunisia was Antonio’s daughter. Alonso, seemingly worried and feeling a greater sense of responsibility, struggled against the storm, making it to the bo’sun. “Be careful,” he shouted, “Where’s the captain? Push the men harder.” Upon seeing Alonso, the bo’sun shouted, “Stay below.” The bo’sun then ignored the king, addressing the crew members, “can’t you ‘all hear the captain’s whistle?” Then he turned to the king and informed him that he was in the way. He wanted him to go back to the cabins. He did not hesitate to remind the king that the sea did not care for his title and that he was bothering the crew, hampering their effort to keep their royalties from drowning.
Zac Viper 