Spanish Ballads

By W.S. Merwin

When United States Poet Laureate W.S. Merwin was a young poet, Ezra Pound advised him to "read seeds / not twigs." Since the ballads of Spain are among the essential seeds of Western literature, Merwin set out to read them as closely as possible--through the act of translating them. The result was Spanish Ballads.

Originally published in 1961 as a mass-market paperback--and dedicated to Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes--Merwin's translations show a dedication to form, staying true to "the economy and dramatic tradition which abound in the romances."

For Spanish Ballads--long out of print and newly reissued as a Copper Canyon Press Classic--W.S. Merwin selected representative examples of every kind of ballad: from episodic narratives to unusual "wonder-mongering" songs. Grouped by kind and arranged in chronological order, these poems provide an essential key to Spanish culture from the late Middle Ages to the twentieth century.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1556592787
• ISBN13: 9781556592782
• Release Date: July 2008
• Publisher: Copper Canyon Press
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.6" x 7.5"