Taking the legends surrounding King Arthur and weaving in new psychological elements of personal desire and courtly manner, Chretien de Troyes fashioned a new form of medieval Romance. The Knight of the Cart is the first telling of the adulterous relationship between Lancelot and Arthur's Queen Guinevere, and in The Knight with the Lion Yvain neglects his bride in his quest for greater glory. more..

On 15 August 778, Charlemagne's army was returning from a successful expedition against Saracen Spain when its rearguard was ambushed in a remote Pyrenean pass. Out of this skirmish arose a stirring tale of war, which was recorded in the oldest extant epic poem in French. The "Song of Roland", written by an unknown poet, tells of Charlemagne's warrior nephew, Lord of the Breton Marches, who more..

This bold new translation with facing French text restores once banned poems to their original places and reveals the full richness and variety of the collection. This book is intended for general readers interested in Baudelaire, French poetry and 19th-century French culture. Students of Baudelaire, French literature. more..

Prose translations of the short, narrative poems by the first major woman writer in the western tradition. more..

This translation of Baudelaire's magnum opus perhaps the most powerful and influential book of verse from the 19th century - won the American Book Award for Translation. And the honor was well-deserved, for this is one of Richard Howard's greatest efforts. It's all here: a timeless translation, the complete French text, and Mazur's striking black and white monotypes in one elegant edition. more..

A collection of the world’s most beloved fables

Jean de la Fontaine popularized some of our most loved proverbial tales, including "The Hare and the Tortoise" and "The Hen Who Laid Golden Eggs," transforming the world’s great fables into charming works of astonishing originality, wit, and verve. James Michie’s earthy translations capture the friendly brio, nimble more..

poetry, tr Daniel Sloate, bilingual more..

tr Alexis Lykiard, 2 vols in one w/bibliography &c more..

Cesaire's masterpiece that reaches the powerful and overlooked aspects of black culture. more..

This is a new translation of The Romance of the Rose, an allegorical account of the progress of a courtly love affair which became the most popular and influential of all medieval romances. In the hands of Jean de Meun, who continued de Lorris's work, it assumed vast proportions and embraced almost every aspect of medieval life from predestination and optics, to the Franciscan controversy and the more..