Sor Juana's Love Poems/Poemas de Amor: In Spanish and English [Paperback]

Juana Inés de la Cruz (Author), Joan Larkin (Translator), Jaime Manrique (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0965155862 | ISBN-13: 978-0965155861 | Publication Date: October 1997 | Edition: 1st

These exquisite love poems, some of them clearly addressed to women, were written by the visionary and passionate genius of Mexican letters, the seventeenth-century nun Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. In this volume they are translated into the idiom of our own time by poets Joan Larkin and Jaime Manrique. Some of them are rooted in Renaissance courtly conventions; others are startlingly ahead of their time, seemingly modern in the naked power of the complex sexual feelings they address.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Spanish (translation)
Original Language: Spanish

About the Author

Joan Larkin has published the poetry collections Housework, A Long Sound, and Cold River. The editor of numerous anthologies, she is the recipient of two Lambda Literary Awards for Poetry. She teaches poetry writing at Sarah Lawrence and New England Colleges. Jaime Manrique is the author of the memoir Eminent Maricones: Arenas, Lorca, Puig, and Me, also published by the University of Wisconsin Press, the novels Twilight at the Equator, Latin Moon in Manhattan, and Colombian Gold, and two poetry collections, My Night with Federico García Lorca and Tarzan, My Body, Christopher Columbus. He lives in New York City and is an associate professor in the MFA program at Columbia University.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 83 pages
• Publisher: Painted Leaf Press; 1st edition (October 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965155862
• ISBN-13: 978-0965155861
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,838,834 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Buena muestra de poesía barroca, July 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Sor Juana's Love Poems/Poemas de Amor: In Spanish and English (Paperback)

Una excelente producción culterana de poesía amorosa, escrita por la "Décima Musa", Juana de Asbaje, transmutada en monja por obra y gracia de la época contrarreformista. Se ofrece aquí una sarta correctamente elegida de estrofas clásicas de la mejor poesía española, con graciosos juegos de palabras, dilogías sorprendentes, "conceptos", metáforas asombrosas, etc. El esplendor de la lengua española y la frescura y gracia de una intensa voz femenina.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Approximate English translation, January 30, 2005

By 

Cuvtixo "complibrary" (Arlington, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sor Juana's Love Poems/Poemas de Amor: In Spanish and English (Paperback)

An excellent, cultured, lovely publication of poetry, written by the "Tenth Muse", Juana de Asbaje, a nun changed by work and the grace of the Counter-Reformation. A chosen classic collection of the best of female Spanish poetry is offered here, with graceful word games, surprising dilogues, "concepts", amazing metaphors, etc. The splendor of the Spanish language and the freshness and grace of an intense feminine voice.

3.0 out of 5 stars Great poet, spicy translation, July 29, 2009

By 

M. Dillon (Oak Hill, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sor Juana's Love Poems (Poemas de Amor) (English and Spanish Edition) (Paperback)

The translation of the poems here are just a bit of a stretch, I think. I'd rather read less extrapolation and more proximity to the literal, especially when I begin to feel the translators may have had their own agenda. They may have made the poet's words a bit too explicit. Having said that, Sor Juana is simply magnificent, in this rendering too.