RIME

"Faithful, readable, elegant, and long awaited, this translation truly is a poetic tour de force in the service of scholarship." -- Simone Marchesi, Professor of French and Italian, Princeton University
"In these pages, we come to know a different Boccaccio. Here is a poet equally lifted and besieged by love, inspired by the natural wonders and mythological origins of the Bay of Naples, unwilling to spare pity for his adversaries, and bereft after Petrarch’s death. Presented with the original Italian text en face, Richard Lansing’s dynamic translation brings Boccaccio’s lyrical voice to new life in idiomatic English. Akash Kumar’s elegant introduction contextualizes Boccaccio’s rime in the author’s oeuvre and situates his poetry within its multicultural and Mediterranean cultural networks. A long-overdue resource, RIME makes available—at last—Boccaccio’s lyrical voice for students, scholars, and readers of medieval and Renaissance literature." -- Kristina M. Olson, Associate Professor of Italian, George Mason University and Editor-in-Chief, Dante Studies
"Lansing’s translation of Boccaccio’s RIME provides a great service to students and scholars. His translation keeps close to Boccaccio’s language, allowing readers to gain insight into the poetic imagination of this central figure of Italian literature. Despite Boccaccio’s own words, his poetry is well worth the critical attention that this volume will bring." -- Jason Houston, Dean, Gonzaga University in Florence