This is the earliest of DGR's translations, one of several that he made from German works in 1844-1845. These included the beginning of a translation of the
Niebelungenlied
that does not survive, and a translation of the ballad
Henry the Leper
. Lenore is a celebrated work, not least because of its significant influence on English Romanticism via the almost equally celebrated translations of William Taylor of Norwich and Walter Scott. DGR's translation, as WMR observes, emphasizes the romantic and uncanny features of the ballad.
In his note on this translation in his 1895 Memoir WMR thought the original manuscript was lost. A manuscript copy appeared for sale in 1899, however, and was made available to WMR, who published the work for the first time (in 1900) from the manuscript with an excellent introduction.
Textual History: Composition
“In or about June 1844”, according to WMR (
Lenore (1900) 5
)
Printing History
First printed in 1900 by WMR and collected thereafter.
This collection contains 5 texts and images, including:
DGR's Fair Copy MS
Scholarly Commentary
Introduction
This is the earliest of DGR's translations, one of several that he made from German works in 1844-1845. These included the beginning of a translation of the Niebelungenlied that does not survive, and a translation of the ballad Henry the Leper . Lenore is a celebrated work, not least because of its significant influence on English Romanticism via the almost equally celebrated translations of William Taylor of Norwich and Walter Scott. DGR's translation, as WMR observes, emphasizes the romantic and uncanny features of the ballad.
In his note on this translation in his 1895 Memoir WMR thought the original manuscript was lost. A manuscript copy appeared for sale in 1899, however, and was made available to WMR, who published the work for the first time (in 1900) from the manuscript with an excellent introduction.
Textual History: Composition
“In or about June 1844”, according to WMR ( Lenore (1900) 5 )
Printing History
First printed in 1900 by WMR and collected thereafter.