Selected Poems of William Dunbar: An Interlinear Translation

by William Dunbar, Lawrence N. Siegler (Translator)

This assortment of William Dunbar's extraordinary and impressive poems is presented in an easily accessible form. The poems are set forth so that the reader can know the poems, as they were intended, and better enjoy their beauty, spirit, and contribution to Western Literature.

Standard editions of Middle English and Scotch works are published with select obsolete words and some variant spellings, translated either at the bottom of the page, adjacent to the text, or in an appendix. When the poems are presented this way, the full pleasure of this historic, artistic, and delightful literature is made more remote and cumbersome to read. In contrast, an interlinear presentation provides a clearer and more immediate view of the poem itself. It speaks better, more effortlessly, and more directly to readers, and should be the standard of presentation for such poetry.

Genres: Poetry, Scotland, Medieval, Classics, British Literature

147 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 1996

About the author

William Dunbar (born 1459 or 1460 - died by 1530) was a Scottish Makar poet active in the late fifteenth century and the early sixteenth century. He was closely associated with the court of King James IV and produced a large body of work in Scots distinguished by its great variation in themes and literary styles. He was probably a native of East Lothian.

From 1500, Dunbar was employed at the court of James IV in a role for which he received an annual pension. His duties are not recorded; but it is to this period that the bulk of his poetry can be dated. Several of Dunbar's poems were included in the Chepman and Myllar prints of 1508, the first books to be printed in Scotland.

Reviews

[Manny]

Our plesance heir is all vane glory,
This fals warld is bot transitory,
The flesche is brukle, the Fend is sle;
Timor mortis conturbat me

The stait of man dois change and vary,
Now sound, now seik, now blith, now sary,
Now dansand mery, now like to dee;
Timor mortis conturbat me

No stait in erd her standis sickir;
As with the wynd wavis the wickir,
Wavis this warldis vanite;
Timor mortis conturbat me

[Peter Aronson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The interlinear translation works very well here, giving you the meaning and the look of the original poems at the same time. Alas, it does nothing for the pronunciation, which is not discussed except for a reference to a rather technical and academic book. This is somewhat frustrating when the translator's introduction tells us this poem is lyrical or that poem demands to be sung. But still a nice translation of a poet whose works should be better well known.