Making Luis de Góngora’s work available to contemporary English-language readers without denying his historical context, Selected Poems of Luis de Góngora presents him as not only one of the greatest and most complex poets of his time, but also the funniest and most charismatic. From longer works, such as “The Fable of Polyphemus and Galatea,” to shorter ballads, songs, and sonnets, John Dent-Young’s free translations capture Góngora’s intensely musical voice and transmit the individuality and self-assuredness of the poet. Substantial introductions and extensive notes provide personal and historical context, explain the ubiquitous puns and erotic innuendo, and discuss translation choices. A significant edition of this seminal and challenging poet, Selected Poems of Luis de Góngora will find an eager audience among students of poetry and scholars studying the history and literature of Spain.
An epic masterpiece of world literature, in a magnificent new translation by one of the most acclaimed translators of our time. A towering figure of the Renaissance, Luis de Góngora pioneered poetic forms so radically different from the dominant aesthetic of his time that he was derided as "the Prince of Darkness." The Solitudes, his magnum opus, is an intoxicatingly lush novel-in-verse that follows the wanderings of a shipwrecked man who has been spurned by his lover. Wrenched from civilization and its attendant madness, the desolate hero is transported into a natural world that is at once menacing and sublime. In this stunning edition Edith Grossman captures the breathtaking beauty of a work that represents one of the high points of poetic achievement in any language.
Professor Wilson's translation of the Soleades was first published in Cambridge in 1931 by Gordon Fraser's Minority Press. This revised edition, with the Spanish text added, was published by Cambridge University Press in 1965. In the first place, Góngora is 'difficult', and therefore, fifty students first embarking on the study were glad of the help with 'meaning' which an English version provides. But Professor Wilson's is a translation in the full sense of the word, not just a crib. Its verse follows the varied movement and elaborate structure of the original, and creates an English equivalent of the musical qualities of the Spanish. It gives pleasure of a high order as well as understanding, and was one of the few English versions of the time which approached the status of art. It was therefore of importance for students of translation itself.
Many students of Spanish literature will have encountered some of Góngora's poems. No Spanish poet is grater or more rewarding, but few are as difficult for the beginner. His style is a habit of mind: radically metaphorical, elliptical, witty, highly sensuous, transmuting the world of the sense into a world of the spirit. To read him, one has to learn these characteristic habits and perform athletic mental feats as one goes along. It would be too easy to say that Professor Jones has made Góngora 'easy'; but he has certainly made him more accessible. A long introduction briefly deals with Góngora's life, and then gives solid critical guidance to the poems. It includes passages of sustained and detailed analysis which explain how characteristic poems 'work' and it incorporates original insights and research. The notes are full and are designed to help the reader through the difficulties by offering critical comment.
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