NIE! World Poetry: An Anthology of Verse from Antiquity to Our Time

There are times when a reader runs out of books. When she is shuffling around the library, trying to pick out a new title to take home. This quest can be many times more difficult if she is searching for a translated work - a category that probably does not have its own section.

One solution is to seek out an anthology. And one of the best anthologies I've ever purchased is World Poetry: An Anthology of Verse from Antiquity to Our Time, edited by Clifton Fadiman, John S. Major and Katharine Washburn. This volume, composed of 1376 pages of sweet and tumultuous words, will be one book you will not regret reading.

"The song that I came to sing remains unsung to this day.

I have spent my days in stringing and in unstringing my instrument.

The time has not come true, the words have not been rightly set; only there is the agony of wishing in my heart." 

- Rabindranath Tagore, "The Song That I Came To Sing", translated from the Bengali by Pratimer Bowes. pg 847

First off, the sampling is extensive. Being a collection of poetry from around the world, it can only consist of samples. But if you aren't sure where to start with international poetry, that is what makes this book indispensable.

The cover of tis magnificent anthology.

Divided into eight sections, World Poetry walks you through history. After a brief introduction to the time period covered in each section, you'll find numerous subsections based on nationality and ethnicity. And as you approach the modern age, the included authors multiples manifold.

It's true there's a focus on some traditional English-speaking authors and other European favorites. You'll find Homer, Pushkin and Lord Byron. But you'll also find authors from Vietnam, Macedonia, and Nigeria; you'll find poems translated from Cree, Marathi, Spanish, and Hebrew.

"When I was no one yet,
light, clear light
in the winding brooks
I often slept.

As I almost became someone,
a great force rolled me
stone, rough stone,
ice-veined, down the slope..."

 - from "Song: Boundless Space" by Sándor Weöres, translated from Hungarian by William Jay Smith, pg 991

Certainly the whole world can't be encompassed in a single book. This book, however, certainly attempts to do so. And the reader is all the better for it, for they will gain exposure to writers, regions and styles they may have never experienced if they continued searching on their own. My copy is extensively dog-eared and bookmarked.

While the names of the translators are attached to each poem, this volume does lack notes on culture-specific allusions and context. However, given the scope of the anthology, this can be forgiven. You can't have it all.