Home Orlando Furioso: A New Verse Translation by Ariosto, Ludovico (ISBN: 9780674035355)

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Orlando Furioso: A New Verse Translation Hardcover - 2009

Name: Orlando Furioso: A New Verse Translation
Price: 19.50 GBP
Availability: InStock
Author: Ludovico Ariosto
ISBN: 9780674035355

by Ariosto, Ludovico

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Summary

Orlando Furioso ("The Frenzy of Orlando", more literally "Mad Orlando"; in Italian furioso is seldom capitalized) is an Italian romantic epic by Ludovico Ariosto which has exerted a wide influence on later culture. The earliest version appeared in 1516, although the poem was not published in its complete form until 1532. Orlando Furioso is a continuation of Matteo Maria Boiardo's unfinished romance Orlando Innamorato ("Orlando in Love", published posthumously in 1495). The action takes place against the background of the war between Charlemagne and his Christian paladins, and the Saracen army which is attempting to invade Europe. However, Ariosto has little concern for historical or geographical accuracy, and the poem wanders at will from Japan to the Hebrides, as well as including many fantastical and magical elements, such as a trip to the moon and an array of fantastical creatures including a gigantic sea monster called the orc and the hippogriff. Many themes are interwoven in its complicated, episodic structure, but the most important plot is the paladin Orlando's unrequited love for the pagan princess Angelica, which develops into the madness of the title. After this comes the love between the female Christian warrior Bradamante and the pagan Ruggiero, who are supposed to be the ancestors of Ariosto's patrons, the d'Este family of Ferrara.The poem is divided into forty-six cantos, each containing a variable number of eight-line stanzas in ottava rima (a rhyme scheme of abababcc). Ottava rima had been used in previous Italian romantic epics, including Luigi Pulci's Morgante and Boiardo's Orlando Innamorato. Ariosto's work is 38,736 lines long in total, making it one of the longest poems in European literature.

From the publisher

The appearance of David R. Slavitt s translation of "Orlando Furioso" ( Mad Orlando ), one of the great literary achievements of the Italian Renaissance, is a publishing event. With this lively new verse translation, Slavitt introduces readers to Ariosto s now neglected masterpiece a poem whose impact on Western literature can scarcely be exaggerated. It was a major influence on Spenser s "Faerie Queene." William Shakespeare borrowed one of its plots. Voltaire called it the equal of the "Iliad," the "Odyssey," and "Don Quixote" combined. More recently, Italo Calvino drew inspiration from it. Borges was a fan. Now, through translations of generous selections from this longest of all major European poems, Slavitt brings the poem to life in ways previous translators have not. At the heart of Ariosto s romance are Orlando s unrequited love for the pagan princess Angelica and his jealous rage when she elopes. The action takes place against a besieged Paris, as Charlemagne and his Christian paladins defend the city against the Saracen king. The poem, however, obeys no geography or rules but its own, as the story moves by whim from Japan to the Hebrides to the moon; it includes such imaginary creatures as the hippogriff and a sea monster called the orc. "Orlando Furioso" is Dante s medieval universe turned upside down and made comic. Characterized by satire, parody, and irony, the poem celebrates a new humanistic Renaissance conception of man in an utterly fantastical world. Slavitt s translation captures the energy, comedy, and great fun of Ariosto s Italian."