Online Translation

On my Collected Poetical Works blog I recently posted a Valentine's day haiku.

just a single dove
atop our back garden tree
on Valentine's day

The poem has been translated by four Russian translators on the Version website.

I thought it would be interesting to see how they back-translated and I found the Paralink translation site which offers two translations of any text.

The results were

1. просто одинокий голубь
   на верхушке нашего черного садового дерева
   день Валентина

   translates as

   Simply lonely pigeon
   On a top of our black garden tree
   Day of Valentine

   or (via Google translation)

   just a lone dove on top of our black wood garden Valentine's Day

2. голубь - одна штука
   на обуглившемся дереве в нашем саду
   в Валентинов день

   translates as

   The pigeon - one piece
   On the charred tree in ours to a garden
   In Valentines day

   or (via Google translation)

   dove - one piece at charred tree in our garden in the Valentine's Day

3. стонет белый голубочек
   на черном-черном дереве -
   Валентинов день

   translates as

   Groans white голубочек
   On black-ebony-
   Valentines day

   or (via Google translation)

   moaning white dove on a black-black tree - Valentine's Day

4. ...а всего-то одинокий голубок
   на верхушке чёрной яблони в саду
   да Валентинов День

   translates as

   ... And only lonely голубок
   On a top of a black apple-tree in a garden
   Yes Valentinov Den

   or (via Google translation)

   ... And just a lone dove on top of a black apple in the garden so Valentine's Day

Quite fascinating to see the variations. Do they understand Valentine's day in Russia?