{"product_id":"9780374273484","title":"The Testament of Cresseid and Seven Fables","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eThe Testament of Cresseid and Seven Fables\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Robert Henryson\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe greatest of the late medieval Scots \u003ci\u003emakars\u003c\/i\u003e, Robert Henryson was influenced by their vision of the frailty and pathos of human life, and by the inherited poetic example of Geoffrey Chaucer. Henryson's finest poem, and one of the rhetorical masterpieces of Scots literature, is the narrative \u003ci\u003eTestament of Cresseid\u003c\/i\u003e. Set in the aftermath of the Trojan War, the \u003ci\u003eTestament \u003c\/i\u003ecompletes the story of Chaucer's \u003ci\u003eTroilus and Criseyde\u003c\/i\u003e, offering a tragic account of its faithless heroine's rejection by her lover, Diomede, and of her subsequent decline into prostitution and leprosy. Written in Middle Scots, a distinctive northern version of English, the \u003ci\u003eTestament \u003c\/i\u003ehas been translated by Seamus Heaney into a confident but faithful idiom that matches the original verse form and honors the poem's unique blend of detachment and compassion.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA master of high narrative, Henryson was also a comic master of the verse fable, and his burlesques of human weakness in the guise of animal wisdom are delicately pointed with irony. Seven of the \u003ci\u003eFables \u003c\/i\u003eare here sparklingly translated by Heaney, their freshness rendered to the last claw and feather. Together, \u003ci\u003eThe Testament of Cresseid \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eSeven Fables \u003c\/i\u003eprovide a rich and wide-ranging encounter between two poets across six centuries.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e“\u003ci\u003eThe Testament of Cresseid \u003c\/i\u003eis a beautiful, rare work, unique in the history of literature for [the ‘recognition'] scene alone. Heaney has done us all a generous and graceful service.” —\u003ci\u003eRuth Padel, Financial Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“The wintry force and appeal of [\u003ci\u003eThe Testament\u003c\/i\u003e] are certainly apparent in [Heaney's] rendering . . . Read him and you'll want to experience the original, too.” —\u003ci\u003eSean O'Brien, The Sunday Times (London)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“\u003ci\u003eThe Testament of Cresseid \u003c\/i\u003eis [Henryson's] masterpiece, possibly the greatest short narrative poem of the Middle Ages. It mingles human sympathy, moral judgment, ironic awareness and grim humour in equal measure . . . [Heaney's] translation of \u003ci\u003eThe Testament \u003c\/i\u003einto modern English . . . is a reminder that translation is one of the glories of the English literary tradition.” —\u003ci\u003eJonathan Bate, The Sunday Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Virtuoso moments are common in the book, with Heaney not only giving a justmodern account of Henryson, but offering something distinctive and memorable on its own account.” —\u003ci\u003ePeter McDonald, The Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“[Heaney's translation of ] \u003ci\u003eThe Testament of Cresseid and Seven Fables \u003c\/i\u003eis typically both masterful and accessible.” —\u003ci\u003eCarol Ann Duffy, The Daily Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9780374273484\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Farrar, Straus and Giroux","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":40594776588494,"sku":"9780374273484","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/getimage_9f25cfa3-43a4-4976-9dee-0147174c05ab.jpg?v=1637817511","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9780374273484","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}