The Golden Age: Poems of the Spanish Renaissance

I don't quite understand all the quibbling and crankiness from my colleague reviewers here. This is an absolutely lovely book in terms of content and physical format as well. As often in her coloratura translation of DON QUIXOTE, the renderings literally sing off the page. I am not at all proficient in Spanish, but acquaintances who are, whom I've persuaded to do so, have read here and there in the poems in their native tongue. While that beauty and sonority is truly sublime, Grossman does well in capturing much of it in English. What fun this would be to include in a World Poetry class! While there is much to love here, and Saint John of the Cross and his Dark Night have long been among my favorites, his Mexican namesake, Sor Juana Inez has certainly enchanted me with her sweet sonnets. The Billy Collins introduction is a pleasantly insightful bonus.

The poems of the Spanish Renaissance are beautifully translated and very readable. Many of the poems have relevance for today.

These are welcome selections from Manrique, Garcilaso, Fray Luis, St. John of the Cross, Gongora, Lope, Quevedo and Sor Juana accompanied by facing English translations. The versions are serviceable cribs, freely rendering Spanish in a prose that captures, for the most part, the original sense but, inevitably, lets the music slip away. Edith Grossman's free prose renderings offer a sufficient glimpse of the original to interest readers.Specialists will quibble at issues of rhyme, verse form, archaism; some, no doubt, will grate at ocassionally flat, stilted and wooden moments. However, with a little forgiveness of the translator for undertaking a daunting task, these well chosen and rich selections will repay the reader's efforts.

The author's selection is an interesting mix of canonical gems and other admirable pieces. I think I would have sacrificed the Manrique piece for more Garcilaso, Quevedo, Góngora, a ballad by Lope, or something by one of the Argensola brothers. Of course, that is simply a matter of personal preference. It is unfortunate that the author did not have a good proofreader. I suppose 10 or 11 spelling problems is not unreasonable, but for a popular audience who might be odd enough to use the bilingual text as a tool for perfecting their Spanish, it would be a shame to see items such as "duéño" (Coplas)or "contar" instead of "contra" (p. 64). Even so, the book is a much-needed anthology by a very talented translator. It is physically very attractive as well.