History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)

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Check and see
Suprise! Suprise!
Prescient St Augustine?
Something of a disappointment
Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy..

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
Anatoly T Fomenko
Manufacturer: Delamere Resources LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621066

Product Description

`History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2` is the second volume of the most explosive and astounding tractate on history ever written - however, every theory it contains, no matter how unorthodox, is backed by rock solid scientific data. The book is easy and pleasant to read; it is well-illustrated, contains hundreds of charts, graphs and illustrations, copies of ancient manuscripts, and countless facts attesting to the falsity of the chronology used nowadays. You will be amazed to discover: - That the chronology universally accepted today and taken for granted is simply wrong; - That ALL methods of dating of ancient sources and artefacts known today are erroneous or non-exact; - That there is not a single document that could be reliably dated earlier than the XIth century; The Author refers to the Middle Ages as the Antiquity and proves mutual superimposition of the Second and the Third Roman Empire, both of which become identified as the respective kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Furthermore, he asserts that the famous reform of the Occidental Church in the XI century by Pope Gregory Hildebrand was the reflection of the XII century reforms of Byzantine emperor Andronicus who in his turn identifies with Jesus Christ. The Trojan war counted by Homer happened only as late as of the XIII century A.D. and the great poet actually lived in XIV century A.D. No stone in history of Antiquity is left unturned. Literally. This book is the beginning of a major correction to the chronology we live with.

Customer Reviews:

Check and see.......2007-06-21

I don't care what other people say of this book. Those affirmig it's fake, they hadn't ever read it. Or have some special reasons to do so. "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see..." This book won't make you feel comfortable. It'll make you feel free. It'll make you feel you're "not the only one" to feel you'd been lied to for centuries.

Suprise! Suprise!.......2007-03-22

Here is a serie of books which turns "the whole world" upside down. I learned a lot of it and I hope that a new book from A.T. Fomenko will follow very quick. A absolute must for everybody who is interested in history or even a little bit from it.

Prescient St Augustine?.......2006-02-05

We can so far divide the New Chronology into the following three parts:

a) The verifiable theory that proves consensual chronology wrong with the aid of astronomy, statistics and mathematics;

b) The new chronology hypothesis based on a new understanding of known historical facts and the most likely logical explanation of the most obvious inconsistencies inherent in the official version of history;

c) The history conjectures, that is experimental historical reconstructions based on assumptions that the authors believe to make sense in the light of their research and linguistic parallels - void of ironclad factual support to date.

Fomenko's theory complies with the most rigid scientific standards as a whole:

It gives a coherent explanation of what we already know.

- It is consistent: independent lines of inquiry all lead to the same conclusion.

- The predictions it makes are confirmed empirically.

Fomenko goes by the following axioms:

- Chronology is the basis of history;

- Human evolution has always been linear, gradual and irreversible;

- The "cyclic" nature of human civilization is a myth, likewise all the gaps, duplicates, "dark ages" and "renaissances" that we know from consensual history;

- The accumulation of geographical knowledge as reflected in cartography is a gradual and irreversible process;

- The chronological distance between a given manuscript and the events described therein is proportional to the amount of distortions it contains;

- There is no "useless" information in authentic ancient sources.

Why the mainstream historians do not shower mathematician Academician Dr.Prof Fomenko with thanks and laurels?

The Russians:

Because Fomenko asserts that there was no such thing as the Tartar and Mongol invasion followed by three centuries of slavery, providing a formidable body of documental evidence to prove his assertion. The so-called "Tartars and Mongols" were the actual ancestors of the modern Russians, living in a bilingual state with Arabic spoken as freely as Russian. The ancient Russian state was governed by a double structure of civil and military authorities. The hordes were actually professional armies with a tradition of lifelong conscription (the recruitment being the so-called "blood tax"). Their "invasions" were punitive operations against the regions that attempted tax evasion. Fomenko proves that Russian history as we know it today is a blatant forgery concocted by a host of German scientists brought to Russia by the usurper dynasty of the Romanovs, whose ascension to the throne was the result of coup d'état, charged with the mission of making their reign look legitimate. Fomenko proves Ivan the Terrible to be a collation of four rulers, no less. They represented the two rival dynasties - the legitimate rulers and the ambitious upstarts. The winner took it all! Over some 30 years of controversy, Russian historians have made a most remarkable transition - they were initially accusing the young mathematician Fomenko of anticommunist dissident activity and attempts to deface the historical legacy of Soviet Russia; nowadays the middle-aged mathematician is accused of adhering to "pro-communist Russian nationalism" and defacing the proud historical legacy of Great Russia.

The Westerners:

Because Fomenko blows consensual Russian history to smithereens, successfully removing a crucial cornerstone from underneath the otherwise impeccable edifice of World History. Fomenko adds insult to injury, wiping out one by one the Ancient Rome (the foundation of Rome in Italy is dated to the XIV century A. D.), the Ancient Greece and its numerous poleis, which he identifies as the mediaeval crusader settlements on the territory of Greece, and the Ancient Egypt (the pyramids of Giza become dated to the XI-XV century A. D. and identified as the royal cemetery of the Global "Mongolian" Empire, no less). The civilization of the Ancient Egypt is irrefutably dated to the XII-XV century A. D. with the aid of the ancient Egyptian horoscopes cut in stone. He was the first one to decipher and date all such horoscopes, coming up with mediaeval dates in every case. English historians rage at the suggestion that the history of Ancient England was de facto a Byzantine import transplanted to the English soil by the fugitive Byzantine nobility. To reward the English historians who consider themselves the true scribes of World History, the cover of the present book portrays Tintoretto's Jesus Christ crucified on the Big Ben.

The Chinese:

Because Fomenko wipes out the Ancient History of China outright. No such thing. Full point. The compilation of the so-called Ancient Chinese History is reliably datable to the XVII-XVIII century only. It is perfectly recognizable as the Ancient European history, reworked and transcribed in hieroglyphs as yet another historical transplantation, this time performed on the Chinese soil by the loving Jesuit hands. The Chinese are the next in line to go berserk. Chinese history is inevitably bound to get both more ancient and more eventful, proportionally to the growing involvement of China in the world affairs. Chinese historians will keep on finding valid proof of prehistoric Chinese spaceflights until the Politburo orders them to shut up.

The Arabs:

Too bad. Islam with all its key figures is datable to XV-XVI century A. D. Arabic historians may find consolation in the crucial historical role of the Ottoman Empire in the XVI-XVII century. The trouble is that this empire was initially a Christian state, with Hagia Sophia identifiable as Temple of Solomon, according to Fomenko! We can only guess if the acquisition of Alexander the Great (a Macedonian and a Christian) as the founder of the Muslim World Empire will make Fomenko's theories more acceptable to the Arabic mainstream. He certainly does not spare any holy cows at all, claiming The Stone of Qa'Aba in Mecca to contain the lost Arch of the Covenant.

The Divinity:

Despite of reiterated statement that his theory is all about chronology and not Religion, Fomenko stirs up a whole condominium of wasp nests. His collection of anathemas, fatwa, and other condemnations from all parties concerned is already considerable. Little wonder, considering that the history of religions à la Fomenko looks as follows: the pre-Christian period (before the XI century and JC), Bacchic Christianity (XI-XII century, before and after JC), JC Christianity (XII-XVI century) and its subsequent mutations into Orthodox Christianity, the Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, and so on.

According to Fomenko we know strictly NOTHING about the events that predate the X century A. D.

St Augustin was prescient when he spoke unto us: "be wary of mathematicians, particularly when they speak the truth."

Something of a disappointment.......2005-09-09

After having read the first volume of this expected series of 7 volumes I was triggered by the thesis of these authors that ancient Greek and Roman history did in fact take place in the Middle Ages. So I started studying medieval history of the Middle East - also known as Islamic history - to find out if the opponents of the ancient Greeks and Romans - the Acheamenid Persians, Sassanids, Scythians, Egyptians, etc. - also have their duplicates in medieval history. My search was disappointing: none of the many medieval Islamic dynasties seemed to correspond to the ancient middle eastern rulers.

However, I did find a close correspondence between Herodotus' Persian kings and medieval events:

- the defeat and capture of an Anatolian king - the Lydian Croesus - by the Persian conqueror Cyrus is identical to the defeat and capture of another Anatolian king - sultan Bayezid - by the Asian/Mongol conqueror Tamerlane;
- the Persian conquest of Egypt by the cruel tyrant Cambyses reds almost exactly as the Ottoman conquest of Egypt by Selim the Grim (note the nickname!);
- Darius the Lawgiver of the Persian Empire looks very much alike to Sulayman the Magnificent, the Lawgiver in Islamic history;
- Xerxes, whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by the Greeks at the naval battle of Salamis, looks like Selim II (the Sot) whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by a Spanish-Italian alliance at the naval battle of Lepanto.

I should have expected Fomenko et al. to arrive at similar conclusions, however, they claim that the Persian kings are the alter egos of the Angevin kings of Sicily whose biographies do not contain the exploits of the Persian kings.

The similiarities I indicate lead to the conclusion that Herodotus must have written his Histories at the close of the 16th century. But this is extremely late, given that Herodotus is "the Father of History", so therefore all other "ancient" histories must have been fabricated even later. Yet, the founders of modern chronology - Scaliger and Petavius - laid their foundations also at the close of the 16th century and had the full corpus of ancient histories already at their disposal.

It seems to me that Fomenko has to address these inconsistencies, maybe in the forthcoming 5 volumes?

Another critique of their book is that the correspondencies between different rulers are often based on a superficial comparison of the biographies; upon a more thorough comparison many details appear that do not correspond at all.

Finally, the authors rely heavily on the works of Gregorovius (1821-1891!!) - his medieval histories of Rome and Athens - as the source of medieval history; these works are - at least in the West - hoplessly outdated and have been superceded by more up-to-date works (for instance, Julius Norwich's trilogy on Byzantine history is not even cited).

Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy.........2005-07-30

If you agree with Fomenko that Roman chronology is basically the foundation of the entire edifice of global chronology; you would also certainly agree that despite its numerous gaps and inconsistencies, Roman history is the best-documented field of ancient history, and thus a reference scale. But how well is the actual date of the Eternal City's foundation known?

Firstly, Rome is supposed to have been founded by the Trojans who had to flee after the fall of Troy. Some claim Rome to have been founded by Aeneas and Ulysses shortly after Troy had fallen; others are of the opinion that there was an entire dynasty that ruled for 500 years between the fall of Troy and the foundation of Rome.

Well, that's just an innocent 500 years long misunderstanding compared with what heretic Fomenko says, asserts, proves in his second volume: Second Roman Empire, Third Roman Empire, Biblical Kingdom of Israel, Biblical Kingdom of Judah, Holy Roman Empire are stories about basically same events, written from different points of view at different times. The underlying events have actually taken place during xii-xv cy. These histories have been written and perfected by multitude of highly talented humanist and clerical writers of xiii-xvi cy disguised as "ancients" with glorious names like Homer, Pluto, Thucydides etc..Chronology 2.0 beta..

Historians are kindly invited to report the bugs.

Women Poets of the Italian Renaissance: Courtly Ladies and Courtesans

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A Diverse Collection of Poetry by Italian Renaissance Women Writers

Women Poets of the Italian Renaissance: Courtly Ladies and Courtesans

Manufacturer: Italica Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0934977437

Book Description

This dual-language volume presents the rich flowering of women's poetry during the Italian Renaissance: from the love lyrics of famous courtly ladies of Venice and Rome to the deeply moral and spiritual poets of the age. It includes biographies of 19 poets and over 80 selected poems in the original Italian with facing English verse translation. Poets include Isabella Andreini, Vittoria Colonna, Tullia d'Aragona, Veronica Franco, Veronica Gmbara, Olimpia Malipiera, Chiara Matraini, Lucrezia Tornabuoni de' Medici, Aurelia Petrucci, Antonia Giannotti Pulci, Camilla Scarampa, Gaspara Stampa, and others.

Includes introduction, biographies, notes, bibliographies, first-line index.

Customer Reviews:

A Diverse Collection of Poetry by Italian Renaissance Women Writers.......2005-08-26

It is really good to find an excellent translation on women poets of the Italian Renaissance, as well as to have an edition that has facing Italian and English poems. The translators have also preserved the spelling and diacritical marks of the original text. The brief biography on each woman writer offers important background information on her life and her literary style. At the end of the book, there is an additional section written about the political and social situation in Italy from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century. There is an added bonus of a map that shows the Italian city-states around 1559. The bibliography shows the amount of painstaking effort to research material for this book. Finally, there is an index of first-lines that makes reference very easy. Therefore, this book is an excellent book to use either in a classroom or for purely recreational enjoyment.

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Lanyer: A Renaissance Woman Poet
Susanne Woods
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0195124847

Book Description

Aemilia Bassano Lanyer published poetry to and for women in 1611, at the height of the largely misogynistic reign of James I. Her verse complements and extends our view of her contemporaries, such as Spenser, Shakespeare, Jonson, and Donne, whose work in turn provides a context for her unique and engaging voice. This book situates Lanyer within the rich tradition of Jacobean poetry.

Aemilia Lanyer: Gender, Genre, and the Canon (Studies in the English Renaissance)

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A Book of Essays.

Aemilia Lanyer: Gender, Genre, and the Canon (Studies in the English Renaissance)

Manufacturer: University Press of Kentucky
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0813120497

Customer Reviews:

A Book of Essays........2005-09-17

If you don't know who Aemilia Lanyer was, please read about her or better yet read her works. She lived in London during the 1600s and was of Jewish-Italian descent. She became the mistress to Lord Chamberlain and may well have been Shakespeare's "dark lady". The most amazing and fabulous thing she did was publishe poems. Her poem "Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum" is a bold, well written poem and defends women of negative stereotypes which have been forced upon them since Eve. In "Eve's Apology," this portion of the poem is spoken from the point of view of Pontius Pilate's wife, who is begging for the life of Christ. She explores who is really guilty in original sin.

The essays in this book written about Lanyer and her works tell of her life and poetry and sheds new light on gender and class identity. Her male contemporaries at the time were John Donne, Ben Jonson and William Shakespeare.

The experts who write the essays for this book have done their research and make good, convincing arguments. I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to understand Lanyer more thoroughly.

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a note on a rare collection
A poet worth knowing
Poetry to rekindle your heart
Gaspara Stampa: Timeless Poetry
Of historical importance only

Gaspara Stampa: Selected Poems
Gaspara Stampa
Manufacturer: Italica Press
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0934977372

Book Description

This dual-language edition of the selected poems of this famous Renaissance poet and musician, Gaspara Stampa (c. 1520-1554), presents, along with the Italian original, the first English translation of Stampa's work. It includes an introduction to the poet and her work, a note on the translation, and provides the reader with notes to the poems, a bibliography, and a first-line index. Second printing.

Customer Reviews:

a note on a rare collection.......2007-02-22

I have to start with a warning: I like the poetry of Gaspara Stampa very much but I also read it in the original. With that note, I am afraid that I was most interested in this book simply so that I could have more copies of her work, copies that weren't photo-copies caged over the years I spent studying Italian at university. The translations are fine, not particular inspired but not terrible either. For the reader who does not know Italian, they do well expressing the meaning of the poetry if not it's particular genius. However as "A Reader" pointed out, Stampa's true brilliance comes out in the original. "A Reader" also made a few other good points when she mentioned Dacia Maraini, and I think La Maraini touches a certain truth of Italian literature. In short, after an exhaustive effort on my several visits to Italy, I have never once been able to find a newly publised collection of Stampa's work. Infact, I have yet to find any used collections of her work. (They must have existed at some point, and perhaps one day I will find one.) Worse, of the many Italian book sellers I spoke with, very very few had ever heard of this writer. Veronica Franca, the other and rather more famous courtesan poet, was saved from similar neglect perhaps first by Maraini's own writting and certainly by the much romanticized biopic, "Dangerous Beauty."

And so, in my rather round about way, I must conclude that if you enjoy Italian poetry, in particular that written during the Renaissance, this collection is more than worth it's price. Indeed it is very nearly priceless.

A poet worth knowing.......2002-05-08

This may be the only selection of Stampa's poetry in print anywhere, which is remarkable considering that she's regarded as one of the finest poets of the Renaissance. I recall the writer Dacia Maraini saying that when a woman writer dies in Italy, she disappears. That would be a shame, particularly in the case of Stampa, because her work is outstanding. I disagree with the reviewer here who characterized her poetry as merely "undistinguished laments," but recognize that Stampa's powerful language and originality are somewhat lost in the translation. The gist is there, but the swift rhythm, the melody, the intelligence revealed in the careful choice of words, rarely come through.
This is a good translation in that Stortoni and Lille tried hard to render the literal meaning of the poems. The problem is that they attempted to use iambic pentameter -- not even the meter for Petrarchan sonnets -- which results in an inflated, lumbering style.
Nevertheless, there are some standouts; for example, "Amor m'ha fatto tal ch'io vivo in foco" -- which one should try to read in the Italian, if only to listen to the sound of the language. Stampa was a unique poet by any standard, and she deserves the recognition. Highly recommended!

Poetry to rekindle your heart.......2001-07-21

Gaspara Stampa's use of language is rather simple and concise. There are really no tortured words, or tortured phrasings or linguistic metaphors, just laments of longing. Some scholars dismiss her simple words as being overwrought with emotion, but this misses the point of what she is communicating. The intensity of infatuation, of having a crush, of unrequieted love that makes you desperate has never been better expressed. While her direct expression of feelings don't satisfy the intellectual pursuit of contemporary critics, it is not to this audience whom she is writting to. She writes to the heart. Since her poems were meant to be read out loud the impact of each of her poems should only be appreciated in its entirety, dissecting them line by line only disservices them. Read her if you want to re-kindle the embers of your heart.

Gaspara Stampa: Timeless Poetry.......2000-06-12

"Gaspara Stampa: Selected Poems", edited and translated by Laura Stortoni and Mary Prentice Lillie, is a dual-language (English and Italian) compilation of selected poems by a woman considered by many to be the best woman poet of the Italian Renaissance, even the greatest Italian woman poet of all times. Stampa's poems are very similar to Petrarch's poems to Laura, in that a lover (the poet) sings praises of the beloved, while simultaneously lamenting the heart break and loss that comes with this intense and unrequited love. What is so unique and rare about these 16th century poems is that the poet and lover is a woman (and of questionable status), and the object of disire is a man. Stampa's poems are filled with so much passion and emotion that anyone who has been in love will be able to relate to the universal emotions that Stampa expresses. One of my favorite poems is one that is brief and simple, yet conveys such a depth of feeling that one is left wondering how so much could be communicated in so few and such uncomplicated words. These are my favorite types of poems. Stampa explains why love is more deadly than death: "Your cruel arrow, Love,/ Is sharper and more dire/ Even than Death's own dart/ Because through Death one simply dies on time,/ While you, when you attack/ Can strike a thousand times, yet never slay./ So, Love, your piercing dart,/ Is deadlier than Death." Stampa's poems by no means speak to a specific, narrow audience. Her experiences and poems are not dated or defined by her time, but speak to anyone, especially any woman, just as much now as they did over 400 years ago. Likewise, this edition of Stampa's poems is not limited in its audience. Many may find this volume useful and interesting - from Renaissance scholars to literature students, to those interested in Women's Studies, from students of Italian to poetry lovers, to romantics. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

Of historical importance only.......2000-04-06

In my opinion, these poems do not have much intrinsic merit; they are important for women's studies or an understanding of Renaissance taste or a survey of Petrach's influence, not for a study of brilliant literature. Her metaphors are cliche in the extreme, her story is not very inventive, and her style is heavily derivative of Petrarch. There are some poems which are witty or poignant or lyrical, but these moments of inspiration do little to improve the rest of the collection, which consists of undistinguished laments.

The Collected Works of Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke: Volume I: Poems, Translations, and Correspondence (Oxford English Texts)

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The Collected Works of Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke: Volume I: Poems, Translations, and Correspondence (Oxford English Texts)
Mary Sidney Herbert
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Women Writers & Feminist Theory | Books & Reading | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0198112807

Book Description

Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke, is the most important Elizabethan woman writer and patron outside the royal family. By astute use of the genres permitted to women, she supported the Protestant cause, introduced continental literary genres, expanded opportunities for later women writers, and influenced seventeenth-century lyric and drama by such writers as John Donne, George Herbert, Mary Wroth, and William Shakespeare. This scholarly edition in two volumes is the first to include all her extant works: Volume I prints her three original poems, the disputed `Dolefull Lay of Clorinda', her translations from Petrarch, Mornay, and Garnier, and all her known letters. Volume II contains her metrical paraphrases of Psalms 44-150. The edition also provides a biographical introduction, discussion of her sources and methods of composition, textual annotation, and a detailed commentary.

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Women Poets of the Renaissance
Wynne-Davies
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0415923506

Book Description

Although women of the Renaissance were expected to be "chaste, silent and obedient", many women poets risked the disapproval of their own society and transcended the strictures of contemporary female behavior in words that still resonate today. Their meditations on the danger and sufferings of motherhood and their descriptions of the vagaries of love, while couched in the formal style of Renaissance poetry, often appear startlingly close to modern experience.

As a consequence, the range of poetry produced by Renaissance women is remarkably broad. In Women Poets of the Renaissance the poetry of these women is collected for the first time in an anthology that offers the twentieth-century reader a fresh and unique approach to literature of the period.

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Songs of the Women Trouveres
Eglal Doss-Quinby , Joan Tasker Grimbert , Wendy Pfeffer , and Elizabeth Aubrey
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0300084137

Renaissance Women Poets (Penguin Classics)

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great, not perfect

Renaissance Women Poets (Penguin Classics)
Isabella Whitney , Mary Sidney , and Aemilia Lanyer
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140424091
Release Date: 2001-07-03

Book Description

Social convention may have prevented Renaissance women writers from openly taking part in the political and religious debates of their day, but they found varied and innovative ways to intervene. Collecting the work of three great poets-Isabella Whitney, Mary Sidney, and Aemilia Lanyer-this volume repositions women writers of the Renaissance by presenting their poems in the context of their history and culture. Whitney's poems offer the only glimpse into her life, express a concern for women's lack of social and economic power, and powerfully evoke sixteenth-century London. Sidney produced potent translations of Petrarch's works and the Psalms, as well as original verse. Lanyer wrote poems that advocate and praise female virtue and Christian piety, but reflect a desire for an idealized, classless world. The strong and original voices of these three women-each from different social, cultural, and historical strata-demonstrate the emergence of a new female identity during the Renaissance and broaden the common notions of English Literature's golden age.

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great, not perfect.......2006-11-17

The best thing about this anthology is that it is. After decades of adding women to the Renaissance canon via one or two poems in the Norton Anthology or with tatty Xeroxed handouts, having a main-stream publisher, Penguin, devote an entire volume to these three women -- three good writers, not just anyone in a skirt who picked up a pen - is cause for celebration. I would have spent my last dime just to hold it in my hands.

OK, so aside from its mere existence, what's so great about this book? Danielle Clarke and Penguin chose shrewdly with Whitney, Sidney, and Lanyer, giving us three very different women in three very different decades and three strata of English society. Whitney, writing poetry in the 1570's, uses many of the same sources and devices and the more-anthologized males of the period. Her use of Ovid is a good example. A standard assignment for Renaissance poetry is to evaluate the varied influences of Chaucer's and Boccaccio's versions of an Ovidian tale - say, Troilus and Cressida - in relation to Renaissance English translations of the Roman poet. Shakespeare is generally the target of such an assignment, but now I could make the same assignment with Whitney's poetry as the focus of the students' attention.

Mary Sidney is traditionally known because of her famous brother, Philip, but her works of translation stand on their own as examples of what makes the Renaissance a re-birth - attention to English as a language worthy of transmitting great thoughts. Sidney's translation of the Psalms is colored by her Protestant Englishness, but she resists outright polemics by evincing more influence from the Geneva Bible than from the Book of Common Prayer. Her translation neutralizes the strongly male voice of David and provides a more gender-neutral text. Even more impressively, her translation of Petrarch preserves the form of terza rima, a difficult task in English.

With Whitney we see the mind of the common woman, an educated subject of Queen Elizabeth, working with the fruits of the classics in the popular forms of her time. Sidney gives us translation, a hallmark of the Renaissance. Amelia Lanyer gives us insight into the realm of patronage poetry, where poets try to make a living from their verses. A standard assignment of the last decade is the comparison of her Description of Cook-ham with Jonson's Penshurst. With this anthology we have all of Lanyer's writings, so her religious poetry - particularly Eve's Apology -- can stand alone or in a study of 17th century writers such as Donne, Herrick, Herbert, and Milton.

As Clarke points out in her excellent introduction, none of these women sets out to write in opposition to male poets or poetics. But surely the reader of the new millennium doesn't expect anything so reductive of women writers. This anthology provides us the opportunity to visit the minds of a cross-section of Renaissance writers: an educated commoner, a titled scholar, and a self-supporting commercial writer. They all three happen to be women.

What this edition does not provide is much help for the reader who isn't herself a Renaissance scholar. Penguin Classics are famously cheap. To stay cheap, or relatively cheap, they provide very little textual apparatus, and what little is offered is almost always at the end of the book. That is the sad case here. All of the notes are at the end, which makes for awkward reading or teaching. Furthermore, there is little offered to the reader beside the (very) brief notations found at the back. The absence of an index tacitly suggests that no one would know a single title, so there's no need of more help than a table of contents in finding such.

This is not solely a function of Penguin's editorial policy.

Yes, the anthology does exist and it has a lovely cover. But Penguin sells these women short. A brief comparison with the larger anthology, The Penguin Book of Renaissance Verse, makes this inequity very clear.

In the PBRV, we find not only an introduction and notes both textual (some actually at the bottom of the poems themselves) and biographical, but also an index of genres, an index of metrical and stanzaic forms, an extremely helpful glossary of classical names, an index of first lines, and a title index. This excellent volume, PBRV, brings an array of riches to the reader, academic or general. That Penguin chose not to spend the money on the Whitney/Sidney/Lanyer anthology is the reason I cannot give it more than 4 stars.

This is a very good anthology, and Clarke's work is to be applauded. Penguin's commitment to the project, however, leaves something to be desired.

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