Up to date medieval poetry-some funny

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the exploration of medieval and renaissance poetry, particularly focusing on translations into modern English. Participants share resources, express interest in specific themes such as references to willows in literature, and engage in a meta-discussion about the management of a related poll regarding a specific Italian sonnet.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Meta-discussion

Main Points Raised

  • One participant highlights a website, Brindin, as a valuable resource for translations of medieval poetry, specifically mentioning Provençal works by William of Aquitaine.
  • Another participant expresses interest in collecting references to willows in literature and seeks additional resources beyond English literature.
  • Several contributions provide links to poems about willows from various languages, including German, French, and Spanish, while noting that the quality of the poems is not the focus.
  • There is a suggestion to use the thread as a community bookmark for favorite translations found on the Brindin site.
  • A participant raises a question about when to close a poll related to guessing the author of an Italian sonnet, suggesting that it could be closed if no further guesses are made.
  • Another participant agrees with the idea of closing the poll but notes that some may continue to guess even after the answer is posted.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the value of the Brindin site and the interest in willow-themed poetry. However, there is no consensus on how to manage the poll related to the Italian sonnet, with differing opinions on whether to reveal the answer or keep it open for further guessing.

Contextual Notes

The discussion includes various assumptions about the quality and significance of the poems shared, as well as the management of community interactions regarding the poll, which remains unresolved.

marcus
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Up to date medieval poetry---some funny!

Have a look at the translations of medieval/renaissance poetry
into modern English

http://www.brindin.com/main.htm

this is the web's best verse translation website AFAIK

like look at what Brindin has in Provençal-----the troubadour language.
especially William of Aquitaine from around 1100 or so

The way you get it is at the homepage (the old books saying "french", "german", "italian", "other" you click on OTHER

http://www.brindin.com/pwpoth.htm

and you get a list of dozens of languages and you click PROVENÇAL

http://www.brindin.com/pwpoth.htm#provencal

and with any luck you see some by William IX of Aquitaine (a rowdy good time medieval charlie whose granddaughter was the famous Eleanor of Aquitaine, mother of Richard Lionhearted etc.)

of course there's Dante and Petrarch and Rilke and Angiolieri and Vogelweide and Cavalcanti ... too.
Tell me if you can find any great European poet from 1100-1900 which Brindin has left out! If I agree I will attempt to remedy the lack.
 
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Sweet! :smile: Little side question: I'm collecting references to willows in literature and found some new ones on that site. (Thank you!) Do you have any idea where I could find others? I think I have English literature covered, but I don't have many resources for other languages.
 
honestrosewater said:
Sweet! :smile: Little side question: I'm collecting references to willows in literature and found some new ones on that site. (Thank you!) Do you have any idea where I could find others? I think I have English literature covered, but I don't have many resources for other languages.

Rosewater, I do not say these are good poems. I simply looked for foreignlanguage poems about willow-trees---something that is easy for me to help with. (willow is die Weide (Ger.) le saule (Fr.) el sauce (Sp.))

did you get the willow poem of
Christian MORGENSTERN?
http://www.garten-literatur.de/Leselaube/morgenstern_palmsonntag.htm

http://ingeb.org/Lieder/katzchen.html

Here is another German one, by RILKE
http://www.sandammeer.at/animalisches/rilke-weide.htm

a French one of Raymond RADIGUET (1903-1923)
http://poesie.webnet.fr/poemes/France/radiguet/18.html

a German one by someone I don't know at all: Georg BRITTING
http://www.britting.com/gedichte/2-033.html

Here is a Spanish one by César VALLEJO
http://palabravirtual.com/index.php?ir=ver_poema1.php&pid=6402
 
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marcus said:
Rosewater, I do not say these are good poems. I simply looked for foreignlanguage poems about willow-trees---something that is easy for me to help with. (willow is die Weide (Ger.) le saule (Fr.) el sauce (Sp.))
Wow, thanks. :biggrin: Don't worry, I'm not interested in the artistry of the poem, only the meaning of the willow in it.
 
Marcus, what a great find, thanks for sharing! I will soon have enough online reading to keep me occupied this winter. :approve:
 
Evo said:
Marcus, what a great find, thanks for sharing! I will soon have enough online reading to keep me occupied this winter. :approve:
So glad you showed up! I am pleased that you like the Brindin Press site.
Please, as you read brindin.com and come across poems or translations that you especially like, list them here. We can use this thread as a community BOOKMARKS for that site. Because if it has any problem it is that there are a great many translations. One has to sift to find one's favorites.

Everybody is invited in on this hunt/gather expedition.

Evo, and also those who have registered their guesses in the two POLLS----selfAdjoint, arildno, Andre, loseyourname, smurf,...-----I have question which is when shall we close the poll and say what the actual timeperiod was?

the fact is in the case of the Italian sonnet, Andre and (I think subsequently) arildno have already guessed who the poet was. So shouldn't we just put the answer plainly on that thread? and say plainly who guessed right? that would effectively close the thread to further guesses, although it could be left open in case people want to comment.

Or should we leave it with no answer for people to continue guessing, who just happen onto by accident or to find as you did, Evo?
 
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marcus said:
I have question which is when shall we close the poll and say what the actual timeperiod was?

the fact is in the case of the Italian sonnet, Andre and (I think subsequently) arildno have already guessed who the poet was. So shouldn't we just put the answer plainly on that thread? and say plainly who guessed right? that would effectively close the thread to further guesses, although it could be left open in case people want to comment.

Or should we leave it with no answer for people to continue guessing, who just happen onto by accident or to find as you did, Evo?
It's up to you. I would say if a day or two goes by with no more guesses, you could post the answer.

You'll find some people will continue to guess the answer even after it's posted. :smile:
 
Evo said:
It's up to you. I would say if a day or two goes by with no more guesses, you could post the answer.

You'll find some people will continue to guess the answer even after it's posted. :smile:

If it is up to me, I will proceed forthwith to congratulate the winning guessers! Same day poll basically.

I think Andre and selfAdjoint did rather well