The Mays of Ventadorn (National Geographic Directions) - Hardcover

Merwin, W.S.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0792265386 ISBN 13: 9780792265382

Publisher: National Geographic, 2002

Synopsis

A collection of essays by a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet traces the origins of the twelfth-century Provental troubadors, from the work of Bernart de Ventadorn, to the ruins of the chGteau of Ventador, to the careworn farmhouse belonging to the author himself.

About this title

About the Author:

W.S. Merwin was born in New York City in 1927. He is the author of more than 15 books of poetry, including The River Sound (1999) and The Vixen(1996). He has been awarded most of the principal prizes in American poetry, including the Pulitzer Prize, the Bollinren Prize, and several books of prose, including The Lost Upland, his memoir of life in south of France.

From Booklist:

One of the finest senior U.S. poets stunningly evokes in prose the fabled romance and dark beauty of southwestern France. Seemingly channeling the troubadour spirit of the region, Merwin paints broad, but strikingly detailed, landscapes with his words, using language itself as a main character. He intermingles his personal experiences in the region with the songs of twelfth-century troubadours, illustrating superbly the flexibility of time in the historical cocoon of this ancient and endlessly resurrected locale. Often the prose sounds like poetry, and few other travel writings could aspire to the miraculously transporting quality of these crystalline sentences. The reader feels the restorative effects of this region and its poetry on Merwin, and cannot help but be touched. Like the songs of his troubadours, this little book soothes the soul while keeping the senses wide awake. Will Hickman
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About this edition

• Publisher: National Geographic
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0792265386
• ISBN 13: 9780792265382
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 184