Lark in the Morning: The Verses of the Troubadours. A Bilingual Edition by Robert Kehew, Ezra Pound, W. D. Snodgrass

Abstract

i io6 Reviews The third part of the book measures the lingering impact of Chretien de Troyes's romances. Annie Combes examines the Continuations of the Conte du Graal, not ing, for example, the prevalence of non-resolution within the text. Michelle Szkilnik considers the influence that Chretien's romances had so shortly after being writ ten, detailing the numerous translations and adaptations penned by foreign writers. Although this section of the Companion deals principally with works that appeared during the years immediately following Chretien's career, the collection offers an extensive bibliography that may point the reader to further critical works outlining Chretien's presence and importance within contemporary literature. Each of the contributors enters into great detail when considering the history and enduring impact of Chretien's works. For this reason, the Companion offers worth while insights for students of medieval literature who have a grounding inmedieval literary tradition and, more specifically, in the works of Chretien de Troyes, and wish to further their study. All scholars will find useful the considerable quantity of infor mation concerning manuscripts and adaptations assembled here. EMORYUNIVERSITY ANN MCCULLOUGH Lark in theMorning: The Verses of the Troubadours. A Bilingual Edition. Ed. by ROBERT KEHEW. Trans. by EZRA POUND, W. D. SNODGRASS, and ROBERT KE HEW. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 2005. 280 pp.; 4 halftones. 335 (pbk ki6). ISBN o-226-42932-6 (pbk o-226-42933-4). This anthology is uncompromisingly aimed at a readership acquainted with English poetry, with the aim of giving the anglophone reader an introduction to the formal features, rather than the language, of troubadour poetry. Kehew, who describes him self modestly as 'an enthusiast', but who knows his material well, has assembled a collection of verse translations, some by Ezra Pound, some byW. D. Snodgrass, others based on the prose translations of previous anthologies, especially that by Frede Jensen (Troubadour Lyrics: A Bilingual Anthology (New York: Peter Lang, I998)). While we are warned that form, not content, is the aim of these verse translations, some of the endnotes do attempt to rectify obscurities and errors. Kehew also provides an appendix with literal translations for Cercamon's 'Quant l'aura doussa s'amarzis' and Folquet de Marseille's 'Tant m'abellis l'amoros pessamens', to set against Pound's freer treatments. This anthology is probably of more use to the general reader (espe cially one interested inmodernist reception ofmedieval lyric poetry) than to a student, as I am sceptical about the potential of assessing verse translations without a glossary of terms. In this instance, itwould have helped towarn the reader that Old Occitan verse, while apparently simple, is replete with wordplay and constellations of terms such as joi, gaieza, alegria that need a gloss. Kehew's warnings against Pound's early taste for archaisms do not soften the blow of moving from Arnaut Daniel's 'Can chai la fueilla Idels ausors entrecims' to Pound's peculiar lines: 'When sere leaf falleth I from the high forked tips' (for clarification, a literal translation would be 'When the leaf falls from the high between-[tree]-tops', which is horrible but gives you a sense of what Pound is tackling and why Arnaut Daniel has inspired him to call warblings 'wribles'). The structure of the anthology reflects troubadour chansonniers in that each selection is prefaced by a short biographical and historical commentary. Bernart de Ventadorn, Bertran de Born, and Arnaut Daniel have six songs each, and Kehew does not omit lesser figures such as Peirol and Peire Bremon loTort. The only gap, aminor one, is the Catalan troubadour tradition, but in this respect, as in others, the selection reflects Ezra Pound's Dantist perspective on the corpus. However, unlike the chansonniers, the collection is divided on chronological rather than generic lines. MLR, I0I .4, 2oo6 I I07 Part I covers the early tomid-twelfth century, Part II the period up to about I200, and Part III the thirteenth century, viewed as a period of war and decline. There is a brisk and informative introduction and a sound bibliography which directs the reader towards scholarly material inEnglish. Kehew has been thorough in addressing recent shifts in troubadour studies; for example, he...