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 xi

Editor’s Introduction
The Other Voice 1
Ce Climat Lyonnois 3
How to Read the Rymes: The Power of the Paratext 9
The Trail of Immortal Concern: Birth, Love, and Learning in the Rymes 18
Dialogue, Imitation, and the Lyric Voice 30
Pernette du Guillet’s Neoplatonism 49
Reception of the Rymes 66
The French Text 67
Introducing the Rymes in English 69

Translator’s Note 74

Translation 81
Antoine du Moulin, To the Ladies of Lyon 83
To the Reader from the Printer 89
Poems 1–2 (Epigrams 1–2) 91
Poems 3–4 (Epigrams 3–4) 93
Poems 5–6 (Epigrams 5–6) 95
Poems 7–8 (Epigrams 7–8) 97
Poems 9–10 (Epigrams 9–10) 99
Poems 11–12 (Epigrams 11–12) 101
Poems 13–14 (Epigrams 13–14) 103
Poems 15–16 (Epigrams 15–16) 105
Poems 17–18 (Epigrams 17–18) 107
Poems 19–20 (Epigrams 19–20) 109
Poems 21–23 (Epigrams 21–23) 111
Poems 24–25 (Epigrams 24–25) 113
Poem 26 (Song 1) 115
Poems 27–28 (Epigrams 26–27) 117
Poem 29 (Song 2) 119
Poems 30–31 (Epigrams 28–29) 121
Poem 32 (Song 3) 123
Poem 33 (Song 4) 125
Poems 34–35 (Epigrams 30–31) 129
Poems 36–37 (Epigrams 32–33) 131
Poem 38 (Song 5) 133
Poem 39 (Elegy 1): Perfect Love 137
Poem 40 (Song 6) 141
Poem 41 (Epigram 34) 143
Poem 42 (Song 7) 145
Poem 43 (Elegy 2) 147
Poems 44–45 (Epigrams 35–36) 151
Poems 46–47 (Epigrams 37–38) 153
Poems 48–49 (Epigrams 39–40) 155
Poems 50–51 (Epigrams 41–42) 157
Poems 52–53 (Epigrams 43–44) 159
Poems 54–55 (Epigrams 45–46) 161
Poem 56 (Song 8) 163
Poems 57–58 (Epigrams 47–48) 169
Poems 59–60 (Epigrams 49–50) 171
Poems 61–62 (Epigrams 51–52) 173
Poem 63 (Song 9) 175
Poem 64 (Song 10): Ballad for Adonis 179
Poems 65–66 (Epigrams 53–54) 193
Poem 67 (Epistle 1): Cock-and-Bull Story 195
Poem 68 (Elegy 3): The Night 199
Poem 69 (Elegy 4): Despair 209
Poem 70 (Elegy 5): Solace 215
Poem 71 (Epigrams 55–59): Mummery: The Five Posts of Love 223
Poem 72 (Epigram 60): Anatomy Lesson 227
Poem 73 (Epistle 2): To a Foolish Rhymer 229
Epitaphs 231
Translation Notes 236

Glossary 309

Concordance 321

Index of First Lines and Titles 323

Editor’s Bibliography 329

Index 345