Modern English translations of a wide selection of troubadour poems.
The poetry of the troubadours was famous throughout the middle ages, but
the difficulty and diversity of the original languages have been
obstacles to its appreciation by a wider audience. This collection aims
to redress the situation, presenting English verse translations in
contemporary idiom and a highly readable form. It includes some 125
poems, with a strong representation of those composed by women, and goes
beyond traditional limits in time to feature a sampling of the earliest
texts in the Occitan language, written in the tenth and eleventh
centuries, and later works from the early fourteenth. Though most poems
translated in the book were written in Occitan, the vernacularof
southern France, there are also a few translations of poems written in
the same place and time but in other languages, including Latin, Hebrew,
Norse, Catalan, and Italian. Genres include love songs, satires,
invectives, pastourelles, debates, laments, and religious songs.
A comprehensive introduction places the troubadours in their historical
context and traces the development of their art; headnotes introduce
each poet, and the book ends with a bibliography and suggestions for
further reading.
WILLIAM D. PADEN is a Professor of French and Italian at Northwestern
University, and was recently named a Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes
Académiques. FRANCES FREEMAN PADEN is a Distinguished Senior Lecturer in
The Writing Program and Gender Studies, also at Northwestern University.
