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Cover image of The Latin Eclogues
Cover image of The Latin Eclogues
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The Latin Eclogues

Giovanni Boccaccio
translated by David R. Slavitt

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Giovanni Boccaccio is famous for his masterpiece The Decameron, but his Latin Eclogues are relatively unknown. David R. Slavitt’s English translation makes these important pieces accessible to a new audience of readers.

Elegant and engaging, these pastoral poems address the great issues of Boccaccio’s Italy, including the political and military intrigues of the day. Boccaccio modeled his poems on Petrarch’s eclogues and, before him, those of Virgil and Theocritus. Slavitt’s impeccable translations are highly readable, while his editorial interjections both elucidate the poet’s intended meaning...

Giovanni Boccaccio is famous for his masterpiece The Decameron, but his Latin Eclogues are relatively unknown. David R. Slavitt’s English translation makes these important pieces accessible to a new audience of readers.

Elegant and engaging, these pastoral poems address the great issues of Boccaccio’s Italy, including the political and military intrigues of the day. Boccaccio modeled his poems on Petrarch’s eclogues and, before him, those of Virgil and Theocritus. Slavitt’s impeccable translations are highly readable, while his editorial interjections both elucidate the poet’s intended meaning and frame the poems for the reader.

These charming works offer wonderful insight into daily life in Renaissance Italy. A prolific and award-winning translator, Slavitt turns the Eclogues into vibrant modern English, capturing not only the words of Boccaccio but the flavor of the original language.

The availability of The Latin Eclogues in English is a major contribution to the study of the literature and history of the Italian Renaissance.

Reviews

Reviews

Pastoral poems that reflect both the great issues, including the political and military intrigues, of Renaissance Italy, and the era's day-to-day life... A fluid and accessible translation.

A welcome opportunity for new audiences to discover an obscure yet arguably more emblematic side to the author.

About

Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
5.5
x
8.5
Pages
160
ISBN
9780801895623
Table of Contents

Translator's Preface
I. Galla
II. Pampinea
III. Faunus
IV. Dorus
V. The Falling Forest
VI. Alcestus
VII. The Quarrel
VIII. Midas
IX. Anxiety
X. The Dark Valley
XI. Pantheon
XII. Saphos
XIII. The Laurel Wreath
XIV

Translator's Preface
I. Galla
II. Pampinea
III. Faunus
IV. Dorus
V. The Falling Forest
VI. Alcestus
VII. The Quarrel
VIII. Midas
IX. Anxiety
X. The Dark Valley
XI. Pantheon
XII. Saphos
XIII. The Laurel Wreath
XIV. Olympia
XV. Phylostropos
XVI. The Messenger

Author Bios
David R. Slavitt
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David R. Slavitt

David R. Slavitt is a poet, translator, novelist, critic, and journalist. He is author of more than seventy works of fiction, poetry, and poetry and drama in translation.