Synopses & Reviews
Poetry. Translated from the Portuguese by Richard Zenith. This is the first bilingual edition in English to offer a cross-section of the stunning output of lyric poetry produced by Portugal's Luis de Camoes (who also wrote The Lusiads, the greatest epic poem memorializing Vasco da Gama's inaugural voyage to India). A selection of forty sonnets is followed by poems using other metrical patterns and rhyme schemes, including terza rima, ottava rima, the sestina, the canzone, and the redondilha, a verse form typical of Portuguese folk poetry. Richard Zenith's limpid renditions, far from attempting to "update" Camoes, closely adhere to the original text, employing modern English but resisting the temptation to expand on the relatively small and simple lexicon of the Portuguese. His illuminating introduction shows how the 16th-century poet's life ad work were intimately entwined, and he discusses with candor his method for translating this poetry.
Synopsis
Sonnets and Other Poems is the first bilingual edition in English to offer a cross-section of lyric poetry by Portugal's Luis de Camoes, author of The Lusiads (1572), the great Renaissance epic memoralizing Vasco da Gama's inaugural voyage to India (1497-99). A selection of forty sonnets is followed by poems using other metrical patterns and rhyme schemes, including terza rima, ottava rima, the sestina, the canzone, and the redondilha, a verse form typical of Portuguese poetry. Richard Zenith's fluid renditions, far from attempting to "update" Camoes, closely adhere to the original text, employing modern English but resisting the temptation to expand on the relatively small and simple lexicon of the Portuguese. Along with discussing his method of translation, Zenith's illuminating introduction shows how Camoes's life and work were intimately entwined."
Synopsis
Sonnets and Other Poems offers a cross section of lyric poetry from Portugal's Lu s de Cam es, author of The Lusiads(1572), the great Renaissance epic memorializing Vasco da Gama's inaugural voyage to India. A selection of forty sonnets is followed by poems using other metrical patterns and rhyme schemes, including terza rima, ottava rima, the sestina, the canzone, and the redondilha, a verse form typical of Portuguese poetry. Richard Zenith's fluid translations, originally published in 2009, have been fully revised and updated. Far from attempting to rewrite Cam es, Zenith closely adheres to the original text, employing modern English but resisting the temptation to expand on the relatively small lexicon of the Portuguese.
About the Author
Luis de Camoes (1524?-1580) lived a life full of love and adventure on three continents. His experiences are vividly woven into his poetry, which drew its formal inspiration from Virgil, Ovid, Petrarch and other poets, both classical and modern. A conceptualizing artist, Camoes possessed an extraordinary ability to forge his thought and experience into verses at once crystalline and compelling, accounting for his status as one of the foremost poets in the European tradition. While The Lusiads (1572), his epic poem celebrating Portugal's maritime exploits, brought him immediate and enduring renown (there are more than fifteen translations of the work into English), his equally splendorous lyric poetry may hold more appeal for today's reader.