Imitations (Unknown Binding)

by Robert Lowell (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Imitations is, so far as I know, the only book of its kind in literature . . . Lowell, who has used materials from other writers, all the way from Homer and Pasternak, has produced a volume of verse which consists of variations on themes provided by these other poets and which is really an original sequence by Robert Lowell of Boston."--Edmund Wilson

"The book has a twofold fascination: it gives access to the private realm of a major poet, showing us how he reads his masters and peers . . . At the same time it provides the reader with . . . creative echoes to a number of important poems."--George Steiner
-- Review

Black Spring by Innokenti Fyodorovich Annensky
The Abyss by Charles Baudelaire
Autumn by Charles Baudelaire
The Flawed Bell by Charles Baudelaire
The Flowers Of Evil: Spleen by Charles Baudelaire
The Flowers Of Evil: Voyage To Cythera by Charles Baudelaire
The Game by Charles Baudelaire
The Injured Moon by Charles Baudelaire
Meditation by Charles Baudelaire
My Beatrice by Charles Baudelaire
The Ruined Garden by Charles Baudelaire
The Servant by Charles Baudelaire
The Swan by Charles Baudelaire
To The Reader by Charles Baudelaire
The Voyage by Charles Baudelaire
Years Back When We Were Children by Der Wilde Alexander [pseud.]
Sic Transit by Johann Hebel
Dying In Paris: 1. Death And Morphine by Heinrich Heine
Dying In Paris: 2 by Heinrich Heine
Dying In Paris: 3 by Heinrich Heine
The Iliad: The Killing Of Lykaon by Homer
At Gautier's Grave by Victor Marie Hugo
Russia 1812 by Victor Marie Hugo
The Infinite by Giacomo Leopardi
Saturday Night In The Village by Giacomo Leopardi
Sylvia by Giacomo Leopardi
At Gautier's Grave by Stephane Mallarme
Arsenio by Eugenio Montale
The Chess Player by Eugenio Montale
The Coastguard House by Eugenio Montale
Day And Night by Eugenio Montale
Dora Markus by Eugenio Montale
The Eel by Eugenio Montale
Hitlerian Spring by Eugenio Montale
Little Testament by Eugenio Montale
The Magnolia's Shadow by Eugenio Montale
News From Mount Amiata by Eugenio Montale
For Anna Akmatova by Boris Leonidovich Pasternak
Hamlet In Russia, A Soliloquy by Boris Leonidovich Pasternak
In The Woods by Boris Leonidovich Pasternak
The Landlord by Boris Leonidovich Pasternak
Mephistopheles by Boris Leonidovich Pasternak
The Seasons by Boris Leonidovich Pasternak
September by Boris Leonidovich Pasternak
Sparrow Hills by Boris Leonidovich Pasternak
Wild Vines by Boris Leonidovich Pasternak
The Cadet Picture Of My Father by Rainer Maria Rilke
Orpheus, Eurydice, And Hermes by Rainer Maria Rilke
Pigeons by Rainer Maria Rilke
A Roman Sarcophagus by Rainer Maria Rilke
Self-portrait by Rainer Maria Rilke
At The Green Cabaret by Arthur Rimbaud
The Drunken Boat by Arthur Rimbaud
Evil by Arthur Rimbaud
The Lice-hunters by Arthur Rimbaud
A Malicious Girl by Arthur Rimbaud
Napoleon After Sedan by Arthur Rimbaud
Nostalgia by Arthur Rimbaud
On The Road by Arthur Rimbaud
The Poet At Seven by Arthur Rimbaud
A Poster Of Our Dazzling Victory At Saarbrucken by Arthur Rimbaud
The Sleeper In The Valley by Arthur Rimbaud
To The French Of The Second Empire by Arthur Rimbaud
Winter Noon by Umberto Saba
Three Letters To Anaktoria by Sappho
You Knocked Yourself Out by Giuseppe Ungaretti
Helen by Paul Valery
Ballad For The Dead Ladies by Francois Villon
The Great Testament by Francois Villon
The Old Lady's Lament For Her Youth by Francois Villon
Villon's Epitaph by Francois Villon
Villon's Prayer For His Mother To Say To The Virgin by Francois Villon
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder® --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

"Imitations is, so far as I know, the only book of its kind in literature . . . Lowell, who has used materials from other writers, all the way from Homer and Pasternak, has produced a volume of verse which consists of variations on themes provided by these other poets and which is really an original sequence by Robert Lowell of Boston."--Edmund Wilson

"The book has a twofold fascination: it gives access to the private realm of a major poet, showing us how he reads his masters and peers . . . At the same time it provides the reader with . . . creative echoes to a number of important poems."--George Steiner

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Unknown Binding: 149 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (1965)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0007G5SEK
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,265,819 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The must-have collection of translations, August 22, 2004

By	J. Ott "John Ott" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Imitations (Paperback)

Robert Lowell has had dramatic upswings and downswings in his reputation as a poet. Right now, thanks to the release of his COLLECTED POEMS, edited by Frank Bidart, he is experiencing another upswing.

What has never suffered in esteem is this collection, IMITATIONS, the most influencial of its type since Ezra Pound's TRANSLATIONS. Lowell has, in his own words, "been reckless with literal meaning, and labored hard to get the tone." As Pasternak said, in poetry, the tone is everything. Hence the title: imitations, not translations.

Of course, I know many of the originals of these and Lowell has not been reckless, at least not by my standards. Instead he has (often, but not always) taken the translation one step beyond the normal conversion and internalized the poems to himself and his own experiences. A colossal trick of ego? Perhaps. "All my originals are important poems," he claims in his introduction. As if to dance upon the grave of Western poetry, the first imitation condenses THE ILIAD into 46 lines. But Lowell is much more respectful from there, and earns his faithfulness to the original poets in his own unique way.

I think he really has succeeded in making poems that equal the originals with a high percentage. He has also put his unmistakeable pissmark on them. George Steiner called them "creative echoes." Whatever they are, love 'em or hate 'em, they are a must read for all poets and translators, a sort of gauntlet thrown down upon the heads of Homer, Sappho, Heine, Villon, Baudelaire, Rilke, Montale, Pasternak et al. How should one go about translating any literature? This is one of the best points of departure.