Complete Poems. A Bilingual Edition

Karen Simroth James teaches and is Language Program Director in the Department of French at the University of Virginia, where she also directs the digital archive, The Renaissance in Print: Sixteenth-Century French Books in the Douglas H. Gordon Collection. Marta Rijn Finch is a Vermont poet who wrote her first verse at age five. An early fascination with languages led to the study of French, Latin, Greek, Russian, and Chinese. She lived in France for six years, attended the Sorbonne, and translated the poetry of philosopher Simone Weil during her stay in Lyon.

• Acknowledgments xiEditor’s IntroductionThe Other Voice 1Ce Climat Lyonnois 3How to Read the Rymes: The Power of the Paratext 9The Trail of Immortal Concern: Birth, Love, and Learning in the Rymes 18Dialogue, Imitation, and the Lyric Voice 30Pernette du Guillet’s Neoplatonism 49Reception of the Rymes 66The French Text 67Introducing the Rymes in English 69Translator’s Note 74Translation 81Antoine du Moulin, To the Ladies of Lyon 83To the Reader from the Printer 89Poems 1–2 (Epigrams 1–2) 91Poems 3–4 (Epigrams 3–4) 93Poems 5–6 (Epigrams 5–6) 95Poems 7–8 (Epigrams 7–8) 97Poems 9–10 (Epigrams 9–10) 99Poems 11–12 (Epigrams 11–12) 101Poems 13–14 (Epigrams 13–14) 103Poems 15–16 (Epigrams 15–16) 105Poems 17–18 (Epigrams 17–18) 107Poems 19–20 (Epigrams 19–20) 109Poems 21–23 (Epigrams 21–23) 111Poems 24–25 (Epigrams 24–25) 113Poem 26 (Song 1) 115Poems 27–28 (Epigrams 26–27) 117Poem 29 (Song 2) 119Poems 30–31 (Epigrams 28–29) 121Poem 32 (Song 3) 123Poem 33 (Song 4) 125Poems 34–35 (Epigrams 30–31) 129Poems 36–37 (Epigrams 32–33) 131Poem 38 (Song 5) 133Poem 39 (Elegy 1): Perfect Love 137Poem 40 (Song 6) 141Poem 41 (Epigram 34) 143Poem 42 (Song 7) 145Poem 43 (Elegy 2) 147Poems 44–45 (Epigrams 35–36) 151Poems 46–47 (Epigrams 37–38) 153Poems 48–49 (Epigrams 39–40) 155Poems 50–51 (Epigrams 41–42) 157Poems 52–53 (Epigrams 43–44) 159Poems 54–55 (Epigrams 45–46) 161Poem 56 (Song 8) 163Poems 57–58 (Epigrams 47–48) 169Poems 59–60 (Epigrams 49–50) 171Poems 61–62 (Epigrams 51–52) 173Poem 63 (Song 9) 175Poem 64 (Song 10): Ballad for Adonis 179Poems 65–66 (Epigrams 53–54) 193Poem 67 (Epistle 1): Cock-and-Bull Story 195Poem 68 (Elegy 3): The Night 199Poem 69 (Elegy 4): Despair 209Poem 70 (Elegy 5): Solace 215Poem 71 (Epigrams 55–59): Mummery: The Five Posts of Love 223Poem 72 (Epigram 60): Anatomy Lesson 227Poem 73 (Epistle 2): To a Foolish Rhymer 229Epitaphs 231Translation Notes 236Glossary 309Concordance 321Index of First Lines and Titles 323Editor’s Bibliography 329Index 345

"Those who wish to read this exquisite writer but do not trust their French now have an edition with extraordinarily helpful notes, subtle translations, and an erudite but accessible introduction. I will certainly assign it the next time I teach my course on Renaissance women writers. How can one not love a poet who explains why boars have cloven feet, who imagines Cupid shooting arrows tipped with Greek fire while giving a cheery 'Good day!' in his native Greek, and who mixes discourses from Petrarch, Plato, and the early French Renaissance into a witty dialogue that always charms and often moves?"