Description

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Violent, indignant, ribald and often brutally physical, Villon's verse has a formidable satiric thrust, and yet is also encompasses passages of poignant nostalgia and haunting lyric expression, culminating in his digressive autobiographical masterpiece, 'The Testament', which counts among the most popular texts of French poetry.

About the Author

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François Villon (c.1431–c.1463) is an almost legendary figure in French literature. Involved, as a young man, in street brawls, thefts and a killing, he was imprisoned and sentenced to death, but later pardoned by King Charles VII. His most famous poems, which are among the founding texts of French literature, are The Legacy, The Testament and The Ballade of the Hanged Men.

Praise For…

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"Technically, the translation is brilliant. (...) While staying close to Villon's meaning, sensitive both to the learned allusions and to the colloquial quips, Mortimer has found a way of speaking to us today, of revealing the depth of suffering known by those who no longer belong to any place." - TLS

"These are truly wonderful translations, fluent, musical, technically brilliant - could there be a better Villon in English?" - John Banville