Pearl A New Verse Translation [Paperback]

One of our most ingenious interpreters of Middle English, Oxford Professor of Poetry Simon Armitage is celebrated for his compulsively readable translations ([Armitage] conveys that feeling of the almost-but-not-quite comprehensible, the feeling that can make medieval art at once eerie and wonderful &.Strange art of this kind can give voice to the inarticulable&[By] the end of the poem, via Armitages translation (longing for her) and the unfolding of the allegory, that sad phraseliterally, love-longingmakes emotional sense. Across centuries, across languages, from dreams into waking life: the speech of the heart invites translation of many kinds.As ever, what makes Armitages work so inviting is his approachable turn of phrase&this is an emotional and religious meditation&Armitage continues to contribute the same service to culture as Carson, Heaney, Hughs and Graves; he gives blood transfusions to the texts which deserve preservation.To a modern reader, the simple clarity of the medieval cosmos  with its binary oppositions of saved and damned, flawless and flawed, pearl and dust  is striking. The medieval narrative is therefore not unclear, but instead layered, recursive, ornamented&Re-presenting a simpler eschatology, polishing and burnishing it for todays reader: this is Armitages great success as jeweller.[An] expert translation. . . . Armitage successfully andexquisitely translates this classic poem, providing readers witha clear and complete version that honors the original.With his new translation of