John Payne (poet)
Encyclopedia
John Payne was an English
poet
and translator
, from Devon
. Initially he pursued a legal career
, and associated with Dante Gabriel Rossetti
. Later he became involved with limited edition
publishing, and the Villon
Society.
He is now best known for his translations of Boccaccio
's Decameron
, The Arabian Nights and the Diwan
Hafez
. Payne once said that Hafez, Dante
and Shakespeare
were the three greatest poets of the world.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and translator
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
, from Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
. Initially he pursued a legal career
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, and associated with Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti was an English poet, illustrator, painter and translator. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 with William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais, and was later to be the main inspiration for a second generation of artists and writers influenced by the movement,...
. Later he became involved with limited edition
Limited edition books
A limited edition book is a description of a book which is released in a limited print run quantity, usually much smaller than publishing industry standards, and connotes a level of scarcity or exclusivity...
publishing, and the Villon
François Villon
François Villon was a French poet, thief, and vagabond. He is perhaps best known for his Testaments and his Ballade des Pendus, written while in prison...
Society.
He is now best known for his translations of Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio was an Italian author and poet, a friend, student, and correspondent of Petrarch, an important Renaissance humanist and the author of a number of notable works including the Decameron, On Famous Women, and his poetry in the Italian vernacular...
's Decameron
The Decameron
The Decameron, also called Prince Galehaut is a 14th-century medieval allegory by Giovanni Boccaccio, told as a frame story encompassing 100 tales by ten young people....
, The Arabian Nights and the Diwan
Diwan (poetry)
-Etymology:The English usage of the phrase Diwan Poetry comes from the Arabic word diwan , which is loaned from Persian means designated a list or register. The Persian word derived from the Persian dibir meaning writer or scribe...
Hafez
Hafez
Khwāja Shamsu d-Dīn Muhammad Hāfez-e Shīrāzī , known by his pen name Hāfez , was a Persian lyric poet. His collected works composed of series of Persian poetry are to be found in the homes of most Iranians, who learn his poems by heart and use them as proverbs and sayings to this day...
. Payne once said that Hafez, Dante
Dante Alighieri
Durante degli Alighieri, mononymously referred to as Dante , was an Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He is best known for the monumental epic poem La commedia, later named La divina commedia ...
and Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
were the three greatest poets of the world.
Works
- The Masque of Shadows and other poems (1870)
- Intaglios; sonnets (1871)
- Songs of Life and Death. (1872)
- Lautrec: A Poem (1878)
- The Poems of François Villon.(1878)
- New Poems (1880)
- The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night (1882–4) translation in nine volumes
- Tales from the Arabic (1884)
- The Decameron by Giovanni BoccaccioGiovanni BoccaccioGiovanni Boccaccio was an Italian author and poet, a friend, student, and correspondent of Petrarch, an important Renaissance humanist and the author of a number of notable works including the Decameron, On Famous Women, and his poetry in the Italian vernacular...
(1886) translation in three volumes - Alaeddin and the Enchanted Lamp; Zein Ul Asnam and The King of the Jinn: (1889) editor and translator
- The Persian Letters of Montesquieu (1897) translator
- The Quatrains of Omar Kheyyam of Nisahpour (1898)
- Poems of Master François Villon of Paris (1900)
- The Poems of Hafiz (1901) translation in three volumes
- Oriental Tales: The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night [and other tales]. (1901) verse and prose translation in 15 volumes, edited by Leonard C. Montesquieu Smithers
- The Descent of the Dove and other poems (1902)
- Poetical Works (1902) two volumes
- Stories of Boccaccio (1903)
- Vigil and Vision: New Sonnets (1903)
- Hamid the Luckless and other tales in verse (1904)
- Songs of Consolation: New Poems (1904)
- Sir Winfrith and other poems (1905)
- Selections from the Poetry of John Payne (1906) selected by Tracy and Lucy Robinson
- Flowers of France: Romantic Period (1906)
- Flowers of France, The Renaissance Period 1907
- Flowers of France: the Latter Days (1913)
- Flowers of France: The Classic Period (1914)
- The Way of the Winepress (1920)
- The Autobiography of John Payne of Villon Society Fame, Poet and Scholar (1926)
External links
- Arabian nights (Volume 1-13), translated by John Payne can be found online at Archive.org