- 96 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About This Book
From the UK Poet Laureate and bestselling translator of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a complete verse translation of a spirited and humorous medieval English poem The Owl and the Nightingale, one of the earliest literary works in Middle English, is a lively, anonymous comic poem about two birds who embark on a war of words in a wood, with a nearby poet reporting their argument in rhyming couplets, line by line and blow by blow. In this engaging and energetic verse translation, Simon Armitage captures the verve and humor of this dramatic tale with all the cut and thrust of the original.In an agile iambic tetrameter that skillfully amplifies the prosody and rhythm of the original, Armitage's translation moves entertainingly from the eloquent and philosophical to the ribald and ridiculous. Sounding at times like antagonists in a Twitter feud, the owl and the nightingale quarrel about a host of subjects that still resonate todayāincluding love, marriage, identity, cultural background, class distinctions, and the right to be heard. Adding to the playful, raucous mood of the barb-trading birds is Armitage, who at one point inserts himself into the poem as a "magistrate... to adjudicate"āone who is "skilled with words & worldly wise / & frowns on every form of vice."Featuring the Middle English text on facing pages and an introduction by Armitage, this volume will delight readers of all ages.
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One summerās day I overhearda mighty war of words disturba peaceful & secluded dale;between an Owl & Nightingalebarbed comments flew, now soft, now loud,but always heartfelt, wounding, proud.The birds, both swollen up with anger,hurled abuse at one another,taking turns to slate & cursewhat in the other bird was worst, [10]with insults being especially strongwhen rubbishing the otherās song.The Nightingale took up proceedingsfrom the corner of a clearing,perching on a handsome boughwith blossoms hanging down & round,beside a densely knotted hedgeentwined with reeds & bright green sedge.She gloried in that branch; it formeda kind of stage, & she performed [20]the music of her repertoireas if she played a pipe or harp,as if each bright, melodious notewere not the product of a throat.There was, nearby, a tree-stump wherethe Owl intoned her hourly prayers,an ancient ivy-covered bolethe Owl had claimed as her abode.The Nightingale clapped eyes on her& shot the Owl a filthy glare, [30]disgusted by that horrid creatureāsloathsome, nauseating features.āFreak, why donāt you disappear?It sickens me to see you here.Your ugly presence guaranteesto throw my fluting out of key.In fact whenever you turn upmy jaw locks & my heart wonāt pump.As for your tuneless yodelingit makes me want to spit, not sing.ā [40]The Owl was silent until dusk,by which time she was on the cuspof rage, her lungs about to burstthrough holding back her angry words,her heart about to pop. She yowled,āHow does my music strike you now?You tell yourself that I canāt singbut Iām not one for twittering.You ridicule me & you mock,snipe from the cover of the copse, [50]but if you flew that branch of yoursIād make you welcome in my claws(bring on that day before too long!)& then youād sing a different song!āAt which the Nightingale remarked,āAs long as Iām alert & sharpin open ground or on the wingyour menace has a hollow ring.As long as I keep to the hedgeyour words are simply worthless threats. [60]Iāve seen the ruthless way you ripthose birds who canāt escape your grip,& how you like to sink your pincersinto little larks & finches.Thatās why feathered creatures hate you,drive you from their patch, berate youwith their screams & cries, & whythey rise & mob you when you fly,& why the tiniest of titswould gladly tear you bit from bit. [70]You really are a gruesome sightin ways too many to describe:your neckās too thin, your trunkās too small,your head is bigger than ā¦ your all!Your coal-black eyes are weirdly broad&a...
Table of contents
- Cover Page
- Series Page
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- Introduction
- The Owl and the Nightingale (Modern English)
- The Owl and the Nightingale (Middle English)
- Acknowledgments
- Series List
- By the Same Author