Targum

Downloads: Under 100
Pages: 83

Read PDF online Download Save

About this book

Prayer, love, loss and courage appear side by side in George Borrow's verse translations from thirty languages and dialects. The collection opens with a Hebrew ode to God and Arabic poems on devotion and death, then turns to Persian songs of roses, wine and longing. Turkish passages describe paradise and urge a poet to begin his undertakings in God's name. These short pieces give the anthology a changing rhythm and a wide range of voices.

Borrow's preface explains the difficulty of carrying a poem's distinctive tone into English verse, beyond simply translating its words. The later excerpts shift toward northern ballads: a Danish song celebrates Hvidfeld's resolve aboard a burning ship, while an ancient Danish fragment has Orm call to his father from the grave. Readers interested in translated poetry can compare devotional language, lyric imagery and storytelling within one compact collection.

About the author

George Borrow

George Borrow was an English writer, translator, linguist, and traveler whose books draw on encounters across Britain and continental Europe. John Murray issued Lavengro in 1851; it blends autobiography and fiction as its wandering narrator moves through barrack towns, London literary work, and meetings with Romani communities.