To his book
To his book My book (and I don't envy your delight), You're going to my Prince's court, not me. Ah, in this funk how grateful I would be If luck like yours remained within my sight! If someone whom...
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Michael-- nice work. Bellay's regrets are always fun to play with, he being so courtly, & "envoi" poems a long standing tradition. I think the liberties you've taken are perfectly allowable,...
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Michael-- Still not quite idiomatic in a couple of places. The following bits sound a bit strained, in order. 'Ah, in this funk how grateful I would be' (syntax, really.) 'my depressing...
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Hi Michael, I am getting a book club blog started and would like to post your "Note to Echo" as the first post. May I please have permission, if I give all of the credits (Formalist 2000 Howard...
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Kristi: Johnson, right? I'd be honored. You guys have good points, though I'm tempted to hang tough on "eat your lunch." I think he's using a colloquialism with a lighter touch than you suggest, but...
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Mike: Sorry--I'm having computer problems. Yes, I'm thinking of doing Les regrets, but right now it's a break from Tibullus. Translating Petrarchan sonnets into Petrarchan sonnets can drive one buggy....
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Michael -- the direct meaning of "qu'on mange son bien" is "let his property be eaten." Property or estate being one of the dictionary definitions of "bien," well behind "good" or "well," but not a...
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I dunno. This is a poet steeped in the classics, and the set-up clearly echoes Martial I, I and other fairly light pieces where the author addresses his own book. Do you think he was seriously cursing...
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Michael, not having been familiar with the original, I really like the idea of someone else eating the accursed person's lunch. Sounds very Irish, which of course the French isn't, but it has that...
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He's cursing the unsympathetic reader, & yes, I think he's at least partly serious. He could also be partly tongue-in-cheek, but he keeps a straight face about it. You regard Envoi poems as fairly...
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You may be right. I'm trying an alternate version without "eat his luinch" at Erato. I've kept it colloquial but edgier. Thanks for pushing.
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