Any native Italian speakers here?

[Thump]

I'm trying to translate a sentence of the poem 'If' by Rudyard Kipling

It's this

If you can bear to hear the words you've spoken, twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools....... then you'll be a man my son.

Is this nearly there? It's aimed at a female, rather than man/son. Tenses possibly incorrect.

Se potresse (?) sentire le parole che Lei abbia parlato contorto dai furfanti con lo scopo di imbrogliare gli schiocchi... sarebbe una donna.

It's aimed at a female.

If you could make it more poetic, and express the 'you'll be a man my son' into something better than a literal translation I've managed, I'd be grateful.

Se potessi sentire...contorte dai furfanti...
....saresti una donna.

Allora, mia figlia sarai una donna is how I would finish it (as I think that would have the best rhythm)

Wait! DM has just had a go

tua e' la terra, e tutto quello che c'e in essa, e quel che piu conta, tu sarai una donna figlia mia.

(She went to school in Italy unlike me, so trust her!)

Thank you - I really want to express how people can twist things you say and that is really the only point that I'm trying to express which this poem does beautifully.

And it is to a daughter.

Tu Mama é carina...

Grazie :)

Se potressi sentire le parole che abbia parlato, contorte dai furfanti con lo scopo di imbrogliare gli schiocchi... tua e' la terra, e tutto quello che c'e in essa, e quel che piu conta, tu sarai una donna figlia mia

Further try ....translating is not my best talent

Se potrai sopportare di ascoltare le tue stesse parole contorte dai furfanti al mero fine di imbrogliare gli sciocchi tua sara' la terra, e tutto quello che c'e in essa, e quel che più conta, tu sarai una donna, figlia mia

Thank you.

Can I ask what's the difference (or am I incorrect in my usage) between 'Se potressi' and 'Se potrai'? Is it 'If you could' and 'If you can'?

I think that you're using the present tense and I'm using the conditional.
I know the poem in English is written in the present tense, so possibly my mistake.... I just think it translates better in conditional tense - given that the title is 'If'.....

Se potessi - subjunctive - 'if you were able to' is the translation
Se potrai - future so literally, 'if you will be able to'

I think present tense of that verb would be
Se puoi

(I'm a qualified Italian teacher but haven't taught for years - sorry for stepping in as I'm not a native italiana!)

So I guess the present tense is the way to go.

Hmmm, confusing really.

Which tense would you think it reads better in, in Italian?

I think future tense as posted by a PP rather than subjunctive as it is in English (or is it present tense?)

Tenses aside, I read the original as using "man" in a slightly different sense to the dictionary definition ... and I wouldn't be sure "donna" conveys that subtlety in Italian Part of the problem being there's no English feminine equivalent of "man" in the way Kipling was using it ? Or if there is, I can't think of one.

Personally I'd use present tense to convey the sense. Se puoi sopportare...
Translating literature requires serious skill! And it's not a skill that I've acquired. I'm always in admiration of people who translate poetry for a living - especially when they can make it rhyme in the other language.

I'm always in admiration of people who translate poetry for a living - especially when they can make it rhyme in the other language.

It's worth watching "Cyrano" (well, if you can find it) for Anthony Burgess' subtitles alone - all rhyming as with the original dialogue ....

I watched that in the cinema when it first came out! It's an amazing film and performance by Gerard Dépardieu. I'll need to dig out the dvd and watch it again.

I know - I did a bit of translation Italian to English, but never poetry! Financial language mainly - many many moons ago.
They say you should always translate INTO your native tongue, rather than the other way round. It's too difficult to get the nuance of language if it's your second language.
Andrea Bocelli manages to have satisfactorily translated Con te partiró from Time to Say Goodbye (or was it vice versa?).

The Irish language is one helluva bitch to translate.
Simple example:

Céad mile fáilte - literally translated means One hundred thousand welcomes.
Actually translated into English as English people would use it - it translates as................... Hello!

Another simple example is answering the phone in Italian, you say 'Pronto'. You don't translate that to English as 'Ready'. You translate it to 'Hello'.

I love language and could prattle on for hours about it, but I won't bore y'all.

Oh yes, these are interesting examples. I also did some legal translations from French into English. It was all legalese and ancient French! Nightmare! I love teaching idioms - there are some fun ones when you translate them literally.