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Willis Barnstone

 

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Translations

  1. BulletEighty Poems of Antonio Machado, Jacket drawing by Pablo Picasso, Drawings by William Bailey, Introduction by John Dos Passos, Reminiscence by Juan Ramon Jimenez. New York: Las Americas,1959.


  1. BulletThe Other Alexander, Margarita Liberaki, with Foreword by Albert Camus, a Modern Greek Novel translated by Willis Barnstone and Helle Barnstone, New York: Noonday Books, 1959.


  1. BulletGreek Lyric Poetry, Introduction by William McCulloh. New York: Bantam Classics, 1962; 2nd ed., with drawings by Helle Tzalopoulou Barnstone, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1967.


  1. BulletMexico Before Cortez: Art, History, Legend by Ignacio Bernal, Translation and Introduction by Willis Barnstone, New York: Doubleday (Dolphin), 1963; Peter Smith, 1964.


  1. BulletPhysiologus Theobaldi Episcopi De Naturis Duodecim Animalium, Bishop Theobald's Bestiary of Twelve Animals, Latin text with translations, Lithographs by Rudy Pozzatti. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University, 1964.


  1. BulletSappho: Lyrics in the Original Greek with Translations, Introduction by Willis Barnstone, Foreword by Andrew Burn. New York: Doubleday Anchor, 1965; 2nd ed., New York: New York University Press.


  1. BulletThe Poems of Saint John of the Cross, Introduction and Translations, Bloomington, IN.: Indiana University. Press, 1967. The Poems of Saint John of the Cross, rev. ed., Introduction and Translations, New Directions: New York, 1972.


  1. BulletThe Song of Songs: Shir Hashirim, (translated from the Masoretic Hebrew text). Athens, Greece: Kedros, 1970; 2nd rev. ed., Los Angeles: Sun & Moon Press, 2002.


  1. BulletThe Poems of Mao Tse-tung, Translation with Ko Ching-po, Introduction, Notes by Willis Barnstone, New York: Harper & Row, 1972; 2nd. ed., London: Barrie & Jenkins Ltd., 1972.


  1. BulletThe Poems of Mao Tse-tung, rev. ed., Translation with Ko Ching-po, Introduction, Notes by Willis Barnstone, New York: Bantam Books., 1972.


  1. BulletMy Voice Because of You: 70 poems, Pedro Salinas, Introduction and Translations, Preface by Jorge Guillén, Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 1976.


  1. BulletRadiance and Death of Joaquin Murieta by Pablo Neruda, Translated by Willis Barnstone, Modern International Drama, Vol. 10, Number 1, 1976.


  1. BulletThe Dream Below the Sun: Selected Poems of Antonio Machado, Cover drawing by Pablo Picasso, Drawings by William Bailey, Introduction by John Dos Passos, Reminiscence by Juan Ramon Jimenez, Trumansburg, NY: The Crossing Press, 1981.


  1. BulletThe Unknown Light: The Poems of Fray Luis de Leon, Introduction and Translations, Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 1979


  1. BulletBird of Paper: Selected Poems of Vicente Aleixandre, Preface by Vicente Aleixandre, Translations by Willis Barnstone and David Garrison, Pittsburgh: International Forum, Byblos Editions, VI, 1981; 2nd ed., Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 1982.


  1. BulletTwenty-four Conversations with Borges: Including a Selection of Poems, Interviews by Rosberto Alifano 1981-1983, Edited by Nicomedes Suarez Arauz, Translations by Willis Barnstone, New York/Housatonic, MA: Grove Press/Lascaux Publishers, 1984.


  1. BulletLaughing Lost in the Mountains: Selected Poems of Wang Wei, Translations by Willis Barnstone, Tony Barnstone, and Xu Haixin. Beijing, China: Foreign Literature Press (Panda Books), 1989.


  1. BulletCantico espiritual: The Spiritual Canticle of St.John of the Cross, Austin: W. Thomas Taylor, limited edition, 1990.


  1. BulletLaughing Lost in the Mountains: The Poems of Wang Wei, Introduction by Willis Barnstone and Tony Barnstone, Translations by Willis Barnstone, Tony Barnstone, and Xu Haixin, with Drybrush Drawings by Willis Barnstone, Hanover, NH. University Press of New England, 1992.


  1. BulletSix Masters of the Spanish Sonnet: (Francisco de Quevedo, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, Antonio Machado, Federico Garcia Lorca, Jorge Luis Borges, Miguel Hernandez: Essays and Translations, Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1993.


  1. BulletThe Courage of the Rainbow by Bronislava Volkavá, Introduction by Willis Barnstone, Translations by author and Willis Barnstone, Andrew Durkin, Gregory Orr, and Lilli Parott, The Sheep Meadow Press: Riverdale-on-Hudson: New York, 1993.


  1. BulletThe Poems of Sappho: A New Translation, Translation and Introduction, Los Angeles: Sun & Moon Press, 1997.


  1. BulletTo Touch the Sky: Spiritual, Mystical, and Philosophical Poems in Translation, New Directions, New York, 1999.


  1. BulletBorder of a Dream: Selected Poems of Antonio Machado, Port Townsend, WA: Copper Canyon Press, 2004.


  1. BulletSonnets to Orpheus by Rainer Maria Rilke, (bilingual edition), Translated with an Introduction, Boston: Shambhala Books, 2004.


  1. BulletSweetbitter Love: Poems of Sappho, A New Translation, Translated by Willis Barnstone, With Epilogue and Metrical Guide by William McCulloh, 2006.


  1. BulletThe Poems of Mao Zedong, Introduction, Translations, and Notes, University of California Press, 2008.


  1. BulletThe Complete Poems of Sappho,, Translated with an Introduction, Boston: Shambhala Books, 2009.


  1. BulletAncient Greek Lyrics, Translated by Willis Barnstone with an Introduction by William McCulloh, Indiana University Press, 2009.


  1. BulletLove Poems by Pedro Salinas: My Voice Because of You and Letter Poems to Katherine, Translated with an Introduction, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010.

Sonnets to Orpheus

by Rainer Maria Rilke


Written during an astonishing outburst of creativity during a period of only two weeks in February 1922, Sonnets to Orpheus, is still recognized as one of the great works of twentieth century poetry.  Barnstone presents the reader with a brilliant translation, showing the reader the side by side verse in both German and English, illustrating the nuances between Rilke’s poems and the translation.


Barnstone also delivers a biographical sketch of Rilke that illuminates the reader’s understanding of the poet’s circumstance, his passion for life, romance, adventure and ultimately the solitude he required to pursue his art.



Silent Friend of Many Distances


Silent friend of many distance, feel

how your breath draws apart the walls of space.

Lost in the timbers of lost belfries, peal,

let yourself toll.  What feeds on you will trace


its own dominion from this nourishment.

Pass through a transformation and resign

to it.  What pains you most?  To it assent.

If drinking is a bitterness, be wine.


Be in this night whose borders have no frame

a magic force wherein your senses cross.

Be meaning of their strange encounter.  Go,


and if the earthly fades and has forgot

you, whisper to the silent earth:  I flow.

To the onrushing water say:  I am.


Rainer Maria Rilke

translation:  Willis Barnstone

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