Synopses & Reviews
Jean de La Fontaine (1621-1695) epitomized France's Great Century with his elegant style, emotional profundity and ready wit. Among the many translators who have attempted to render the fun and beauty of his writing in English, this selection by award-winning poet Marie Ponsot is arguably the finest ever achieved. She handles La Fontaine's menagerie of foxes, lions, wolves, donkeys, rats and other animals with a naturalness and unaffected elegance that have escaped almost every other translation, including the famous failed effort by poet Marianne Moore.