The Lays of Marie de France
- Publisher
- Athabasca University Press
- Initial publish date
- Sep 2013
- Subjects
- French, Ancient, Classical & Medieval, General
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9781927356371
- Publish Date
- Sep 2013
- List Price
- $16.99
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Description
The twelve “lays” of Marie de France, the earliest known French woman poet, are here presented in sprightly English verse by poet and translator David R. Slavitt. Traditional Breton folktales were the raw material for Marie de France’s series of lively but profound considerations of love, life, death, fidelity and betrayal, and luck and fate. They offer acute observations about the choices that women make, startling in the late twelfth century and challenging even today. Combining a woman’s wisdom with an impressive technical bravura, the lays are a minor treasure of European culture.
About the author
David R. Slavitt is a widely known poet, novelist, critic, and translator. He prepared these English versions of The Lays of Marie de France because he loved them.
Excerpt: The Lays of Marie de France (translated by David R. Slavitt)
… It was with some shame
that he explained how, in the wood,
he lived on whatever prey he could
capture and kill. She digested this
and then inquired of him what his
costume was in these bizarre
forays. “Lady, werewolves are
completely naked,” was his reply.
She laughed at this (I can’t guess why)
and asked him where he hid his clothes—
to make conversation, I suppose.