Comparisons
This section of the site allows the user to view displays of each of Marot's and DuBellay's source poems alongside Spenser's initial and revised translations. Also, the user will find transcriptions of the poems by Petrarch-the "Canzone Of Visions"-on which Marot based his sequence of epigrammatic poems (and which Spenser may have consulted while making his translations of Marot's poems). While A Theatre and Complaints frequently appear in collections of Spenser's shorter works, they are not presented in such a way as to facilitate side-by-side comparison of the variant translations of single source poems.
And because Spenser's translations seldom appear alongside Marot's and Du Bellay's poems, the presentation of each source poem and both of Spenser's translations of the poem in a common digital space will make it considerably more convenient for the user to study Spenser's translations of Marot's and Du Bellay's poems and the subsequent revision of those translations. The side-by-side display of these poems also enables prosodic analysis of how the protocols of a particular form influence (even in some instances determines) the rendering of the poems in terms of choice of diction, construction of the line, and evolution of imagery.
The Versioning Machine, a software program created by the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities (MITH), allows for the display of the sequences of poems, and the user will find two options for material to display: The first option includes Petrarch's "Canzone Of Visions," Marot's translations thereof, and Spenser's initial and revised translations of Marot's sequence. The second option includes Du Bellay's "Songe" along with Spenser's first and second sets of translation. The software works thus: After clicking the tab and pulling up the desired option, the "Versioning Machine" displays one sequence-either Petrarch's "Canzone Of Visions" or Du Bellay's "Songe" depending on which set of materials the user chooses. In order to pull up another sequence with which to compare the first set the user should click on "New Version," then click the forward arrow tab until the desired set of poems appears.
Petrarch's "Canzone of Visions";Marot's translations; A Theatre; ComplaintsDu Bellay's "Songe"; A Theatre; Complaints