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Ladataan... Robert Copland: Poems (Heritage) (1993)Tekijä: Robert Copland
- Ei tämänhetkisiä Keskustelu-viestiketjuja tästä kirjasta.  waltzmn | Mar 31, 2020 |  ei arvosteluja | lisää arvostelu
Robert Copland is (fl. 1505-1546) had a long career as a poet, translator, and printer, and his achievements were substantial. As a printer, he worked for and with Wynkyn de Worde, and his editions look back to the work of Caxton, de Worde's master, and forward, through the work of his successor William Copland, to the Elizabethan period. As a translator, he worked at a time when foreign languages were becoming increasingly necessary to the average Englishman. John Berdan calls Copland one of the main channels of French influence in England during this period. This book makes available the lively poetry of a pre-Renaissance world. In includes lyl of Braintfords Testament, a bequest of farts poem indebted to Chaucer's Summoner's Tale; The Seuen Sorowes That Women Haue When Theyr Husbandes Be Deade, in which conventional misogynist satire moves into psychological complexity; and Copland's most important work, The Hye Way to the Spyttell Hous, an account of vagabond life outside the law in which thieves' cant first sees print. All Copland's work displays a singularly personal quality: as H.R. Plomer says, 'The voice of Robert Copland imparts life to the faint outline that we have of him.' Additional information is contained in the biographical material and notes and glossary. This is a valuable contribution to social history and will be of special interest to those concerned with the early history of English printing. Kirjastojen kuvailuja ei löytynyt. |
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Robert Copland's career was as a printer; he was probably an apprentice of Wynken de Worde, the successor of William Caxton, England's first printer. Copland started printing in his own right in the early sixteenth century, and was mentioned in de Worde's will when the older man died. Copland himself was succeeded as printer by his son (possibly brother) William shortly before 1550.
As a printer, Copland was unimpressive; his books are sloppily printed with type that looks like de Worde's -- it has been suggested that de Worde's gifts to his apprentices when they finished their term was to give them enough type to get started with. This was quite a generous gift, given what it cost to cut and cast a typeface. Copland's productions are neither interesting in themselves nor attractive. If all that was left from Copland was the books he'd printed, he'd be as anonymous as... all the other printers you've never heard of.
But Copland is remembered for another reason. De Worde, who wasn't a native speaker of English, often called upon Copland to create poetic prefaces or other editorial material for the books de Worde was printing, and Copland continued to do this on his own, and occasionally to publish pieces of his own. These can reveal quite a lot about the literary trades in the period from about 1520 to 1547. And this is why there is need for an edition of Copland's works.
Unfortunately, the poems themselves are by no means scintillating. Copland is mechanically proficient -- the ends of his lines rhyme, and he's pretty careful about syllable counts even while using very strange metres such as iambic trimeter. But there is only one poem in his entire career that strikes me as being worth anything at all; his introduction to Chaucer's Parliament of Fowls opens
Newes / newes / newes, haue ye ony newes
Myn eres ake / to here you call and crye
I.e. "News [or "new things"], news, news, Have you any news?
My ears ache to hear you call and cry"
as people seek for the latest tales and gossip. It's an effective, if crabby, complaint about people always seeking something new rather than looking for good old material (which Chaucer obviously was; could it be that introducing England's greatest writer briefly turned Copland competent?).
So you won't want this book for the joy of reading Copland. But if you want to study Copland for historical purposes, this is a good book. It opens with a sketch that tells us most of the little we know about Copland's life, then turns to the poems themselves, with publication information, context, and diplomatic editions of all the various texts, followed by extensive explanatory notes. There is also a glossary (although it seems a little short to me, given Copland's peculiar spelling) and an index. I might have wished for an index of first lines also, but with only 21 items, that's a relatively minor lack.
If you need to study Copland, this is the book. It is unlikely that there will ever be a better edition. On the other hand, if you want something great to read, all I can say is, "Turne over the leef and chese another... early writer of doggerel." (