I was reading some Pablo Neruda poems tonight in a bilingual book, original Spanish on one side, English translation on the facing page, wondering why it is that Pablo doesn’t get translated to Paul on the cover.
The previous pope was known by Spanish-speaking people as Papa Juan Pablo, for example, so why wouldn’t it go the other way? Shouldn’t it be Paul Neruda, Paul Picasso, and so on?
Paul doesn’t have the same ring, not the least because it’s a blunt monosyllable, unlike the soothing trochee Pablo. Hey, and Pablo isn’t English, so it’s interesting and mysterious, right?
I suppose I don’t care either way, because I don’t want to become one of those tight-sphinctered fellows who argues whether Leonardo or da Vinci is the correct single-name way to refer to the Italian artist.