Poem of the Cid (1140)It's odd, that when we consider Great Western Literature we do not automatically consider Spain, despite the fact that it produced the first--and still the greatest--novel in Don Quijote (see Orrin's review) and one of the world's best epic poems, El Cid. All of us recognize the name El Cid, and I remember the pretty feeble movie version with Charlton Heston (supposedly the restored version is much better than the hacked up one they used to show), but has anyone ever read it? This great translation by the poet W.S. Merwin isn't even in print anymore. It should be; it's a great story. The Cid was a historical figure, Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar (1043-99), the greatest Christian knight of 12th Century Spain. This was a turbulent time in Spain. The Moors had crossed over from Africa in 711 and won extensive holdings in the South (Andalusia). By the Cid's day, the badly divided northern Kingdom was uniting for a Reconquista, an attempt to drive out the Moors. The Catholic Encyclopaedia describes the actual events of the Cid's life: Ferdinand I, at his death (1065), had divided his
dominions between his three sons, Sancho,
At this time, Rodrigo Diaz was quite young, and Sancho,
out of gratitude for the services of
Through some mistake or misunderstanding, however,
he failed to join the king, who listening to
The poem actually only covers the years from 1081, when the Cid is exiled from the Court, until shortly before his death. It is concerned less with warfare, though there are stirring battle scenes, than with his relationship with Alfonzo. Essentially it details how the Cid, in seeking redress of grievances including insult to his daughters, forces Alfonso to act like a King. It culminates in a grand trial by combat, where The Cid's men at arms vanquish his treacherous sons-in-law. The story functions on a number of levels: stirring adventure, Christian triumphalism and political instruction. It is particularly vital to the Western tradition in so far as The Cid is born of middling rank, but rises to preeminence on the strength of his own talents and for the manner in which The Cid requires Alfonso to behave like a worthy leader. Both of these have obvious implications for the rise of liberal democracy, and to my mind, place The Cid in company with Robin Hood as early democratic heroes. The translation by Merwin, if you can find it, is readily accessible and vastly enjoyable. (if not, try this one The Poem of the Cid : A Bilingual Edition With Parallel Text (Penguin Classics) This is good stuff and we should know it better. (Reviewed:) Grade: (A) Tweet Websites:-ESSAY: America’s Last Great Political Novel: Joe Klein’s splendid 1996 novel Primary Colors offers a fascinating snapshot of American politics at the end of the 20th century. (Kevin Mims, 6 Aug 2024, Quillette) Book-related and General Links: -ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA: Your search: "w. s. merwin" -Featured Author: W. S. Merwin (NY Times Book Review Archives) -POEMS, ESSAYS & REVIEWS: W.S. Merwin: (NY Review of Books) -ESSAY: What is American About American Poetry? (W.S. Merwin, Poetry Society of America) -ESSAY: First Loves (WS Merwin, American Poetry Society) -REVIEW: A Scattering of Salt by James Merrill (W.S. Merwin, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW: of RIMBAUD By Pierre Petitfils. Translated by Alan Sheridan (W.S. Merwin, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW: of BURNING PATIENCE By Antonio Skarmeta. Translated by Katherine Silver (W.S. Merwin, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW: of THE INVENTION OF SOLITUDE By Paul Auster (W.S. Merwin, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW: of CELESTINE Voices From a French Village. By Gillian Tindall (W.S. Merwin, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW: of CHAMFORT A Biography. By Claude Arnaud. Translated by Deke Dusinberre (W.S. Merwin, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW: of HYMNS AND FRAGMENTS By Friedrich Holderlin. Translated and Introduced by Richard Sieburth (W.S. Merwin, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW: W.S. Merwin: A Poet in Exile, NY Review of Books Collected Poems by Edwin Muir -REVIEW: W.S. Merwin: A Sight of the Bright Life, NY Review of Books The Book of Counsel: The Popol Vuh of the Quiche Maya of Guatemala by Munro S. Edmonson -REVIEW: W.S. Merwin: 'Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang', NY Review of Books Birds in Literature by Leonard Lutwack -REVIEW: W.S. Merwin: Footprints of a Shadow, NY Review of Books Fernando Pessoa: A Centenary Pessoa edited by Eugénio Lisboa and with L.C. Taylor Poems of Fernando Pessoa translated and edited by Edwin Honig and Susan M. Brown Fernando Pessoa & Co.:Selected Poems edited and translated by Richard Zenith Always Astonished: Selected Prose by Fernando Pessoa translated by Edwin Honig The Keeper of Sheep by Fernando Pessoa, translated by Edwin Honig, and Susan M. Brown An Introduction to Fernando Pessoa by Darlene J. Sadlier The Presence of Pessoa by George Monteiro -AUDIO: Poetry Readings by Merwin W. S. Merwin, "Any Time" W. S. Merwin, "Before the Flood" W. S. Merwin, "Term" -POEMS: (from The Atlantic) -POEM: "FOR THE ANNIVERSARY OF MY DEATH" by W.S. Merwin -POEM: Eight: The Stranger: After a Guarani legend recorded by Ernesto Morales -POEM: Far Company (Poetry Magazine) -POEM: Separation (Lumea) -POEM: "Yesterday" (Fooling with Words, Bill Moyer, PBS) -POEM: Beggars and Kings -POEM: Twilight (Neue Sirene) -POEMS: links to poetry by W.S. Merwin -ESSAY: W.S. Merwin: PLANH FOR THE DEATH OF TED HUGHES, NY Review of Books -ESSAY: W.S. Merwin: Two Poems , NY Review of Books -TRANSLATION: W.S. Merwin translates Canto XXXI of Dante's Purgatorio (Cortland Review) -TRANSLATIONS: Poetry from EAST WINDOW: The Asian Translations by W.S. Merwin (Tricycle) -W. S. Merwin (1927- )(Modern American Poetry) -Academy of American Poets: W. S. Merwin -INTERVIEW: A Poet of Their Own (DINITIA SMITH, NY Times) -INTERVIEW: "A Whole New Thing" W.S. Merwin on poetry, The Folding Cliffs and Hawai`i (John Wythe White, Honolulu Weekly) -PROFILE: Swimming up into Poetry: The Atlantic's poetry editor reflects on the career of W. S. Merwin, whose long association with the magazine spans great distances of geography and art (Peter Davison, The Atlantic) -AWARDS: IN A WORLD OF RHYME, REASON, POETRY PAYS: W.S. MERWIN TAKES $75,000 LILLY PRIZE (Jon Anderson, Chicago Tribune) -ESSAY: Forging a Unique Spanish Christian Identity: Santiago and El Cid in the Reconquista (Laura Elizabeth Gibbs) -ESSAY: AFTER FREE VERSE: THE NEW NON-LINEAR POETRIES (MARJORIE PERLOFF) -ESSAY: Sex, Semantics, and Chauvinism (Ming Zhen Shakya) -POEM: ON READING W. S. MERWIN in the NEW YORKER (James DeFord, James DeFord's Poetry Corner) -REVIEW : of Purgatorio by Dante; Translated by W.S. Merwin (David R. Slavitt, Philadelphia Inquirer) -REVIEW: G.S. Fraser: Three Poets, NY Review of Books The Moving Target by W.S. Merwin Weather and Seasons by Michael Hamburger A Peopled Landscape by Charles Tomlinson -REVIEW: Denis Donoghue: Objects Solitary and Terrible, NY Review of Books Live or Die by Anne Sexton The Lice by W.S. Merwin Reasons for Moving by Mark Strand Love Letters from Asia by Sandra Hochman -REVIEW: Denis Donoghue: Waiting for the End, NY Review of Books The Gulf by Derek Walcott The Carrier of Ladders by W.S. Merwin Darker by Mark Strand The Country of a Thousand Years of Peace by James Merrill The Whispering Roots and Other Poems by C. Day-Lewis Collecting Evidence by Hugh Seidman Baby Breakdown by Anne Waldman -REVIEW: Stephen Spender: Can Poetry Be Reviewed?, NY Review of Books Moly and My Sad Captains by Thom Gunn Writings to An Unfinished Accompaniment by W.S. Merwin Braving the Elements by James Merrill Wintering Out by Seamus Heaney The Crystal Lithium by James Schuyler They Feed They Lion by Philip Levine A Change of Hearts by Kenneth Koch -REVIEW: Joseph Brodsky; Barry Rubin (translated by): Beyond Consolation, NY Review of Books Hope Abandoned by Nadezhda Mandelstam and translated by Max Hayward Osip Mandelstam: Selected Poems translated by Clarence Brown and W.S. Merwin Complete Poetry of Osip Emilevich Mandelstam translated by Burton Raffel Osip Mandel'shtam, Selected Poems translated by David McDuff -REVIEW: Bernard Knox: A Four Handkerchief Tragedy, NY Review of Books Euripides: Iphigeneia at Aulis translated by W.S. Merwin and George E. Dimock, Jr. Iphigenia a film directed by Michael Cacoyannis -REVIEW: Michael Wood: The Insulted and the Injured, NY Review of Books César Vallejo: The Dialectics of Poetry and Silence by Jean Franco Poesía completa by César Vallejo Vertical Poetry by Roberto Juarroz and translated by W. S. Merwin "Harsh World" and Other Poems by Angel González and translated by Donald D. Walsh Muestra by Angel González -REVIEW: Roger Shattuck: In the Magic Circle, NY Review of Books The Lost Upland: Stories of Southwest France by W.S. Merwin -REVIEW: John Bayley: Living Ghosts, NY Review of Books Lament for the Makers by W.S. Merwin The Vixen by W.S. Merwin Flight Among the Tombs by Anthony Hecht The Bounty by Derek Walcott -REVIEW: of The River Sound by W.S. Merwin (Jerry Bass, Richmond Review) -REVIEW: of The Vixen by W. S. Merwin (Richard Howard, Boston Review) -REVIEW: of Poems in W.S. Merwin's `The Vixen' reveal the uncanny, kinetic power of the written word (Arlice Davenport, Knight-Ridder Newspapers) -REVIEW: of Folding Cliffs: Hawaiian Epic Poet W. S. Merwin crystallizes the history and humanity of the islands in his new masterwork. (Gretel Ehrich, Island Magazine) -REVIEW: of Folding Cliffs: Pulitzer poet pays homage to isles with `Folding Cliffs' (Suzanne Tswei, Honolulu Star-Bulletin) -REVIEW: John Bayley: Green and Secretive Islands, NY Review of Books The Folding Cliffs: A Narrative by W.S. Merwin The River Sound by W.S. Merwin EL CID:
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