{"product_id":"pearl-a-new-verse-translation-in-modern-english","title":"Pearl: A New Verse Translation in Modern English","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003ePearl\u003c\/em\u003e is an intricate fourteenth-century poem written by one of the greatest Middle English poets--the anonymous artist who also gave us \u003cem\u003eSir Gawain and the Green Knight\u003c\/em\u003e. This medieval masterpiece presents the meditative Dream Vision of a father (the Dreamer) mourning the loss of a young daughter (his Pearl).\u003cbr\u003e Having recently translated \u003cem\u003eSir Gawain and the Green Knight\u003c\/em\u003e to critical acclaim, John Ridland now tackles the even more challenging \u003cem\u003ePearl.\u003c\/em\u003e He succeeds in giving us another innovative and pleasurable translation that retains line-by-line fidelity with the source material, while bringing the fourteenth-century Northwest Midland dialect into an unstrained contemporary idiom. Ridland's inventive meter and rhyme convey the sonic beauty of the original. Moreover, his preface provides a comprehensive background and analysis of \u003cem\u003ePearl\u003c\/em\u003e, points out the techniques deployed by the original poet, and explains Ridland's own approach to translating the poem. This translation will delight and reward the reader.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePRAISE FOR JOHN RIDLAND'S TRANSLATION OF \u003cem\u003ePEARL: \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJohn Ridland's translation of \u003cem\u003eSir Gawain and the Green Knight\u003c\/em\u003e made that fourteenth-century chivalric romance not only accessible but alive to our twenty-first century sensibilities. Now his translation \u003cem\u003ePearl, \u003c\/em\u003e also by the anonymous \u003cem\u003eGawain\u003c\/em\u003e Poet, does the same for that poignant dream vision. The poem's formal complexities are still here, mutatis mutandis, but they enhance rather than obscure the story of a grieving father's dream vision of his lost daughter in paradise. Six hundred years vanish, and the reader feels an intimate, profound emotional connection with the universal human experiences of loss, grief, and hope.\u003cbr\u003e --Richard Wakefield, author of \u003cem\u003eA Vertical Mile\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn attractively readable translation, which makes a real attempt to convey the metrical beauty and intricacy of the original.\u003cbr\u003e --Ad Putter and Myra Stokes, editors of \u003cem\u003eThe Works of the \u003c\/em\u003eGawain\u003cem\u003e Poet\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter reading John Ridland's translation of \u003cem\u003eSir Gawain and the Green Knight\u003c\/em\u003e some time ago, I thought, \"Well, he's done it now: doomed himself to never achieving anything as remarkable as this again, because it's impossible.\"\u003cbr\u003e But I was wrong: his new translation of \u003cem\u003ePearl\u003c\/em\u003e--an even more challenging work by the same anonymous fourteenth-century \u003cem\u003eGawain\u003c\/em\u003e Poet--is equally musical and moves with the same charmed pace in the telling that is perfect for what is being told.\u003cbr\u003e --Rhina P. Espaillat, author of \u003cem\u003eHer Place in These Designs\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJohn Ridland's translation offers us, in accessible, contemporary English, all the dazzling complexity and beauty of \u003cem\u003ePearl'\u003c\/em\u003es structures, rhythms, and rhymes.\u003cbr\u003e --Maryann Corbett, winner, Willis Barnstone Translation Prize; author of \u003cem\u003eStreet View\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABOUT THE TRANSLATOR: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJohn Ridland, PhD, taught English at the University of California, Santa Barbara, for forty-three years. His recent book of translation is the Middle English anonymous poet's masterpiece, \u003cem\u003eSir Gawain and the Green Knight \u003c\/em\u003e(Able Muse Press, 2016). His other publications include \u003cem\u003eA Brahms Card Ballad, \u003c\/em\u003e first published in Hungarian translation, \u003cem\u003eHappy in an Ordinary Thing, \u003c\/em\u003e and a book-length translation of Petöfi's\u003cem\u003e John the Valiant.\u003c\/em\u003e With Dr. Peter Czipott, Dr. Ridland has translated several other Hungarian poets, including Sándor Márai's \u003cem\u003eThe Withering World\u003c\/em\u003e (Alma Classics, 2013) and Miklos Rádnoti's \u003cem\u003eAll That Still Matters at All\u003c\/em\u003e (New American Press, 2014). In 2014 Askew Publications issued his epic poem, \u003cem\u003eA. Lincolniad.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Able Muse Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51993692864743,"sku":"9781927409886","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0449\/4075\/5096\/files\/imageloader_3bc48363-e9e1-426c-913c-0893ec66832c.jpg?v=1776658926","url":"https:\/\/arvidabookco.com\/products\/pearl-a-new-verse-translation-in-modern-english","provider":"Arvida Book Co.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}