Durling's edition of Petrarch's poems has become the standard. Readers have praised the translation of the authoritative text as graceful and accurate, conveying a real understanding of what this difficult poet is saying. The literalness of the prose translation makes this book especially useful to students who lack a full command of Italian.
The first comprehensive English translation and commentary on Dante's early verse to be published in almost fifty years, Dante's Lyric Poetry includes all the poems written by the young Dante Aligheri between c. 1283 and c. 1292. Essays by Teodolinda Barolini guide the reader through the new verse translations by Richard Lansing, illuminating Dante's transformation from a young courtly poet into the writer of the vast and visionary Commedia. Barolini's commentary exposes Dante's lyric poems as early articulations of many of the ideas in the Commedia, including the philosophy and psychology of desire and its role as motor of all human activity, the quest for vision and transcendence, the frustrating search for justice on earth, and the transgression of boundaries in society and poetry. A wide-ranging and intelligent examination of one of the most important poets in the Western tradition, this book will be of interest to scholars and poetry-lovers alike.
The most comprehensive collection in English of the founder of modern Italian poetry Giovanni Pascoli (1855–1912)—the founder of modern Italian poetry and one of Italy's most beloved poets—has been compared to Robert Frost for his evocation of natural speech, his bucolic settings, and the way he bridges poetic tradition and the beginnings of modernism. Featuring verse from throughout his career, and with the original Italian on facing pages, Selected Poems of Giovanni Pascoli is a comprehensive and authoritative collection of a fascinating and major literary figure. Reading this poet of nature, grief, and small-town life is like traveling through Italy's landscapes in his footsteps—from Romagna and Bologna to Rome, Sicily, and Tuscany—as the country transformed from an agrarian society into an industrial one. Mixing the elevated diction of Virgil with local slang and the sounds of the natural world, these poems capture sense-laden moments: a train's departure, a wren's winter foraging, and the lit windows of a town at dusk. Incorporating revolutionary language into classical scenes, Pascoli's poems describe ancient rural dramas—both large and small—that remain contemporary. Framed by an introduction, annotations, and a substantial chronology, Taije Silverman and Marina Della Putta Johnston's translations render the variety, precision, and beauty of Pascoli's poetry with a profoundly current vision.
"Presents Tasso's 120 love poems for Lucrezia Bendidio for first time in English with verse translations and original Italian on facing pages. Introduction outlines the poems' arrangements and analyzes key themes. Includes detailed notes by both Tasso and Wickert, plus bibliography and indexes"--Provided by publisher.
