Modern Poetry in Translation

Series 3, No 9, Palestine April 2008

Shorter Reviews

Jane Tozer's versions of Marie de France come garlanded with much-deserved awards in both the John Dryden and the Times / Stephen Spender Poetry in Translation prizes. Now available in a lovely edition by Cornish publisher Fal, this is a wonderfully warm and witty read for anyone interested in French literature, in poetry and, of course, in love. Tozer is a master of rhyme and has an ear for a pithy phrase which keeps the momentum moving admirably throughout: 'Despite her frantic tears and pleading/ She is disposed as stock for breeding. / Her youth and beauty are degraded / Her precious innocence traded / To one whose appetites are jaded'.