An outstanding translation of a marvelous poet
928283
This is a marvelous book. It is extremely difficult to accurately capture the flavor of the original writing in translation, but Kunitz has done this and more - the English itself is poetry. The book is dual language, so readers of Russian can read the original next to the English. Both are excellent.
The selection is fairly representative of Akhmatova's life work, with early poems from 1909, through her affair with the poet Blok in the teens, the Terror and War, to her deathbed in 1961.  I particularly enjoyed the translation of the epic "Requiem".  Without a doubt, this is the best English version I have ever read. My only complaint is its berevity - at 40 poems, it merely whets the readers appetite for more - a pity, given the outstanding nature of both poet and translator.
For those who are not familiar with Anna Akhmatova, this is a gem. If you have read some of her work, this is a must-have volume.  Enjoy!
1458073
The Dhammapada is one of the essential works of Buddhist scripture, and this book represents Juan Mascaro's translation of that timeless classic from Pali into English. Not knowing Pali, I cannot judge the linguistic accuracy of Mascaro's translation. But as a lover of both poetry and spiritual philosophy, I can say that this English text is a quiet masterpiece.
The text is divided up into 423 short verses, each of which represents a teaching of the Buddha. This is one of those marvelous books which one can open at any page and begin reading. Often poetic, often practical, but always intriguing, the Dhammapada invites the reader to return again and again. Through its verses we can hear the Buddha challenging us to look at life from a radically new perspective; we hear him encouraging us to break free from the psychological prisons which we too often help build ourselves.
Also fascinating is Juan Mascaro's substantial introduction, in which he discusses the life of the historical Buddha and puts his legacy in a broad context that is both multifaith and multicultural. Scholars of comparative religion will probably be as interested in Mascaro's introduction as they are in the actual translation of the Dhammapada.
In the Dhammapada, we read, "Better than a thousand useless verses is one single verse that gives peace" (verse 101). Juan Mascaro's version of the Dhammapada is certainly a beautiful work of literature. But it is also a profoundly moving spiritual classic. Whatever your religious inclination (or lack thereof), you just might find in this wonderful book some verses that do indeed bring you closer to inner peace.
2381328
I love Szymborska's work and this book is no exception.  The poems are accessible, quirky and thought provoking at the same time - also unsentimental and suffused with humor and a love of life as it is.  The poems appear in Polish on the left hand page and in the English translation on the right hand page.  I don't read Polish, alas,  but I still enjoy seeing the original Polish on the opposite page.  The translators must be brilliant as the poems are so very good and full of personality and the humor comes across so well in English that I can't imagine their being much better in the original.
1042976
the original weight and tone and turn of phrase are crucial to hearing Rilke "in his own voice". it is the sign of a genuinely gifted translator to achieve this - something of a self-less act, a putting aside of one's own prejudices and predilections in honour and respect for the poet's unique expression. a translator is not an editor and should seek to become transparent, not put him/herself in the way as a critical filter. this demands that the translator is fully "in tune" with the poet's "song". translating is an act of carrying-over, conveying something sacred in its most faithful form. it is clear that the translator comes from a background and has learned criteria that prejudice the translation of Rilke. the book of hours has become a vehicle for the translator's own views. and that is a great pity. i look forward to a new more faithful translation in the future - else i must take up german to properly appreciate Rilke's unique voice!

andrew lovatt - editor, deaddrunkdublin & other imaginal spaces
1995003
Thomas Cleary is one of the best all-round translators of East Asian and Sanskrit literature, as well as Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucian writings.  If I have the option of purchasing a work I have never read before in various translations, I will gladly go with Cleary.  Some of his works, such as the astonishing edition of the Art of War and his beautifully poetic rendering of the Zhuangzi are the best of their kind, while others (particularly his translations of Zen literature) are rather lacking and weak.  This mammoth translation of the Buddhavatamsaka-sutra, however, represents the best (in my opinion) in Sanskrit Buddhist translation.  All English speaking Mahayana Buddhists owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. Clearly, for rendering one of the largest, most elaborate, and most important Buddhist scriptures into English, with a flair of style and poetic imagery that surpasses almost anything else I've read in Buddhist sutra translations.  The Avatamsaka Sutra, or the Flower Garland (Flower Ornament) Sutra is the earliest sutra spoken by the Buddha.  It is, along with the Lotus Sutra and the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, one of the most important teachings of the Buddha.  The Chinese Huayan (Jap. Kegon) School (Huayan/Kegon:  Avatamsaka), one of the most prominent and influential schools in the history of Chinese and Japanese Buddhism, is based on this scripture, which emphasizes the mutually unobstructed interpenetration the Dharma realm, the interactions between principle and phenomenal worlds.  The Avatamsaka Sutra is one of the Vaipulya Sutras, meaning that it is, in effect, an incredibly large sutra comprised of several smaller sutras (other Vaipulya Sutras include:  the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, the Jewel Heap Sutra, and the Nirvana Sutra).  Because of its incredible length, many of the English translations are available only as partial translations, or translations of particularly important sections.  Here, however, Cleary has translated the entire sutra, which takes up almost 1500 pages.  However, it is a must-have for any English Mahayana scholars.  Readers may be amazed at the vast range displayed throughout the sutra.  Some chapters are elaborate, miraculous, and joyful in nature (as is much of the Lotus Sutra), while others are strongly philosophical in a style reminiscent of the Hinayana or Perfection of Wisdom Sutras.  Especially important are the chapters concerning the Ten Stages (Dashabhumika-sutra) of the Bodhisattva Path, the Ten Devotions, the Ten Practices, the Ten Concentrations, the Ten Acceptances, and the Ten Abodes.  The second-to-last chapter is a magnificent summation of Mahayana doctrine and the practice of the Buddhas.  The final chapter (which takes up 400 pages by itself) is the "Entry Into the Realm of Reality" (GAnda-vyuha), which is the most famous section of the book.  It describes the pilgrimage of the young Sudhana, guided by Manjushri, as he requests the teachings of 53 masters, including the future Buddha.  The final section of the Ganda-vyuha occurs when Sudhana meets Samantabhadra (Universally Good), and concerns the Ten Vows of Samantabhadra, which is, by itself, probably the most important and available part of the book (numerous translations of this one section exist on the internet).  All in all, I thank Thomas Cleary for finally allowing me to read the complete Flower Garland Sutra (a task which I have been unable to accomplish for years, due to the lack of availability of complete translations).  Stunning.
3376445
This book of Marti's poetry--a reissue of the Cuban poet's first published collection of 1882, written for his then 3-year-old son--has all the impulse of a father's love and the eloquence of a poet's imaginings. Many readers know Marti primarily--if not exclusively--for the lyrics of the song "Guantanamera"; yet there is far, far more. This excellent bilingual edition (kudos to Tyler Fisher, from this writer who grew up in a bilingual household!) brings us Marti's voice: simple and profound, lyrical and fiercely imaginative, domestic and universal, to enjoy through repeated readings. (I've had the book on my desk for months now.) And Marti's love for his son and his country are so pristine and powerful that we are captivated by its universal relevance. The side-by-side bilingual rendition allows a reader who may be linguistically challenged to clarify meaning and to enjoy the fluid cadences and rhyme schemes of the original. The introduction and notes are thorough. Finally, this book by Wings Press, is handsomely printed and bound, a beautiful reproduction of the first edition of 1882.
4491390
Along with Ramon Mahesh's translation/condensation, this is my favorite version in English of what to me is the greatest, most moving text of Indian spirituality.  Indeed, were I told that I had to live the rest of my life on a desert island and could only take one spiritual work and one secular work, I would take the Srimad Bhagavatam and the Complete Works of William Shakespeare.  Bryant's introduction is scholarly and yet not condescending of the great spiritual tradition of Vaisnavism from which this text comes. It is also beautifully written--the translation of the chapters that have to do with the Rasa dance of Krishna and the gopis and the coming of the autumn rains are exquisite poetry.  It is said that just sincerely listening to this text can enlighten you and save you from countless lifetimes of toil and suffering.  I certainly have found that reading it is a source of spiritual sustenance and comfort. The notes in the back are also comprehensive and fascinating.  Bryant has done Krishna a great service with this impeccable translation.  Thank you!!
3528658
While there are other good translations of selections from the Canzoniere, Petrarcch's masterpiece needs to be read as a whole from start to finish in order to be fully appreciated. Petrarch planned and rewrote these poems in order to fit into an overall plan.
  Usually I skip introductions to works that I read but I read the first paragraph of the extensive introduction and was quickly drawn in. This introduction was actualy a helpful prologue to the poetry which descibed Petrach's styles and intentions.
  A blurb on the book cover says that Musa's treanslations read so well that you are unaware that they are translations. I certainly agree. I do not read Italian but this edition does conain the originals on the adjacent side.
  I was surprised at the modernity and musicality of the poems. Petrarch was not just inflouential in his versification but also in his language. Much of his humanistic language has become second nature to us but he invented it.
  I  rank this book as not only some of the graetest poetry but as one ofthe great works of Western llterature.
  These "little songs" are highly readble and like a said before form a sort of novelistic story that I would highly recommend to not just poetry readers but all readers.
3889852
This is a fine set of bilingual translations of the Love Poems of the greatest Brazilian poet. With incisive analysis of the lyrics by the scholar De Andrade.

Highly recommended to anyone who loves poetry, love poetry, Brazilian or Portugese.
327245
A magnificent translation of two women poets writing between the 9th and 11th centuries. The thoughtful translations convey the
feeling-tones of two women poets in a long bygone era in Japan.
The layout is aesthetically pleasing and each and every one of these short (4-5) line tanka keeps unfolding with subsequent readings. A must for any poet interested in writing tanka.
A well-crafted, magnificent translation.
3389004
Mr. Pinsky's translation of The Inferno is a masterpiece.  Most English translations of foreign-language poetry capture the literal sense of the poem but lose much of the liguistic magic of the original work.  I have read recent translations of the works of Fernando Pessoa and Pablo Neruda and I have been amazed at how much of the original beauty is lost in translation.  Mr. Pinsky succeeds at the near impossible but creating a translation that captures the poetry, beauty, horror and humor of the original.  He does so by developing a credible English equivalent of Dante's terza rima structure.  This is a poem that not only captures the themes of the original but the power of its language.  His beautiful translation is meant to be read aloud and does great justice to the original.  Now if we could only get Mr. Pinsky to take on Pessoa.
3577185
I am in love! The object of my affection is small, short, and translated, but my, is it wonderful. This book should really be shelved in the poetry section, for some of the lines are exquisite. The descriptions can be so captivating you have to read them twice, and the characters are good, kind, and lovable, just what is needed this time of year.

There is a plot. A young, talented, but rudderless translator meets the author whose book she is hoping to translate. The two are brought together through their love of words and by their need for love in their lives. Together they uncover a mystery: a note on a cat that leads to a young girl and a rather witch-like woman. But that is so beside the point. What the book is really about is words and language and the beauty that can be found in the perfect turn of phrase or in capturing the essence of a thing with words. Not only does an author need to find these things, but then a translator has to be able to capture the essence and style of the essence and render it into a completely different language. And to really blow your mind, this beautiful book about translation, is in translation!

But I'm gushing. In order not to ruin the book with too many of my own words, I was going to end with a few of my favorite quotes (hard chosen because the 144 pages of this book are covered in sticky notes until it resembles a hedgehog). But I was afraid that would ruin it: one person's manna and all that. So I'll just say that I hope you'll be enticed to run out and buy this Archipelago treasure. And fall a little bit in love.
2678300
Akhmatova seems to be speaking personally to us.  Her poetry is so vibrant and individual.  Andrey Kneller's translation is seamlessly non-intrusive so I bought his edition of my other favorite Russian poet, Marina Tsvetaeva. I am looking forward to reading his translations of other poets in the future.
1863617
Lyn Coffin's translation of Georgia's national poem is incredibly moving, true to the spirit of the story and rhythm of the poet. As I don't read in Georgian, this is the first time I've read a translation that still felt truly "Georgian." I am am a self professed lover of all things Georgian, and after reading this book, I feel closer than ever to Georgia and feel I have found something that makes me understand Georgians better.  I just adore this and plan to give it as gifts to fellow poetry lovers.
2143326
(This is a slightly revised version of my review of the hardback edition of this book which was posted on the UK site of Amazon back in 2002.)

Buy this book for the excellent translations. While there can be no substitute for reading a major poet in his own language, the efforts by Melissa Green, Seamus Heaney, Glyn Maxwell, Paul Muldoon, Derek Walcott and Richard Wilbur are arguably as good as translation of poetry ever gets.

Bilingual editions are not to everyone's taste, but here this format seems to work really well, not least because approximately half of the translations in the book preserve the metre and rhyme scheme of the originals - so readers with at least some knowledge or Russian can try comparing the facing pages, which is as entertaining as it is rewarding. Brodsky's own English version of 'January 1, 1965' is a tour de force of form-preserving translation.

I am not at all sure that including an interview with the author was a good idea, especially because much of the conversation there rotates around the nativity poems themselves. Yes, some poets do not mind discussing their work rationally, but publishing a transcript of such a conversation under the same cover with the poems discussed cannot but take away some of the magic.

Editor's Note mentions that "Christmas" and "Nativity" are the same word in Russian. Quite. But can this ambiguity alone justify inclusion of 'Speech over spilled Milk' in this book? The only relation between this poem and the theme of the collection is that Christmas is mentioned in the first line, though it turns into New Year later on. 'Speech over Spilled Milk' is a fine poem, important for appreciating early Brodsky and beautifully translated, but here it sticks out like a sore thumb: both the subject and the style are completely out of place, and its size (nearly a quarter of the whole book!) damages the rhythm of the piece-to-piece flow which is vital in a small collection of poetry. I would probably also drop 'Lagoon', on the same basis as 'Speech...' and because the recurring image of a ship there does not mix well with the desert landscape implied by the overall concept of the collection.

Purely chronological arrangement of poems is generally reserved for comprehensive editions with an academic flavour to them. Nevertheless, it does not look unnatural in this book of a very different kind. Besides, this way it is easier to notice that the nativity poems that made it into the book were written over a period of precisely 33 years. Very appropriate; I wonder whether it was intentional.

Sadly, I spotted a few inaccuracies on first reading. "M.V." should read "M.B." in the dedication of '25. XII.1993' (the initials must have been transliterated twice). "Brodsky, Joseph, 1940-" in the Library of Congress Data is an unpleasant oversight: the author had been dead for over 5 years when this book was first published. There are misplaced stanzas in the translation of 'Lullaby' and a misunderstood passage about a villager in the translation of "With riverbanks of frozen chocolate, a city..." (to be fair, the syntax of the original gets rather convoluted at that point).

As far as the look and feel of the hardback edition is concerned, the publishers couldn't have done a better job. It is as books used to be: a visual feast and a sheer pleasure to handle. Tastefully and sparingly illustrated with superb period photographs of snow-covered Leningrad.
3056858
Here are 270 pages of the most sublimely beautiful poems in English that I have ever read. Sam Hamill has brought us one step closer to the music of an ancient and culturally distant aesthetic that, until the modernist revolution of the last century, was closed to English speaking readers and writers.
It is difficult to overestimate the impact that Chinese poetry in translation had on modern poetry in English. Arthur Waley's *170 Chinese Poems* and Ezra Pound's enormously important adaptions in *Cathay* are cornerstones of modernism. Kenneth Rexroth's translations, starting with *100 Poems from the Chinese*, were equally as important to the last quarter of the 20th century. Moreover, the interest that these translations produced sparked an interest in world poetry, that completely transformed poetry in English during the last 50 years.  The obvious issue that is always before the reader of poetry in translation is authenticity. Octavio Paz said all poetry is translation. Still, as a reader, it's impossible to know what distance is really spanned in the journey from Tu Fu's mouth to my ears.
I think this book goes a long way toward settling, if not answering some of these concerns. I don't read classical Chinese, so I don't know exactly how accurate these translations are. Nevertheless, Sam Hamill's informative (though somewhat loopy) introduction makes a strong case for thier reliability. By showing his method, he inspires confidence that not only are you reading beautiful English poems, but that what you're reading is speaking to over the bridge of centuries and cultures.
The center 100 pages of this amazing book contains probably the finest translations to date of China's great 8th century poets, Li Po, Wang Wei, and Tu Fu (who is, according to K. Rexroth, the greatest non-epic, non-dramatic poet in any language in the history of the world). These treasures are surrounded by a generous selection of poems dating from the 1st century BCE to the 16th century CE.
Whether you already love poetry or you want to start loving it, don't pass up the enrichment that these poems can bring to your life.
3784142
Having heard a poetry reading by the poet himself and also heard some in his native Slovenian language, I appreciated better the translations as limited and constricted as they can be from one language to another. What comes out in the original Slovenian is an incredible lyricism, a definitely beautiful song-like quality which one can hear in a reading but is absent on the page. Of a translation. However, nothing detracts from Steger's ability to meld all kinds of visual details and feelings and make amalgamations of reality that are mosaic in quality. He's a wonderful poet!