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One of the most original and influential European poets of the Middle Ages, François Villon took his inspiration from the streets, taverns, and jails of Paris. Villon was a subversive voice speaking from the margins of society. He wrote about love and sex, money trouble, "the thieving rich," and the consolations of good food and wine. His work is striking in its directness, wit, and gritty urban realism. Villon’s writing spurred the development of the psychologically complex first-person voice in lyric poetry. He has influenced generations of avant-garde poets and artists. Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine have emulated Villon’s poetry. Claude Debussy set it to music, and Bertolt Brecht adapted it for the stage. Ezra Pound championed Villon’s poetry and became largely responsible for its impact on modern verse. With David Georgi’s ingenious translation, English-speaking audiences finally have a text that captures the riotous energy and wordplay of the original. With a newly revised French text that reflects the latest scholarship, this bilingual edition also features inviting and informative notes that illuminate the nuances of Villon’s poems and the world of medieval Paris.


Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
  2. p. 1
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  1. Title Page, Copyright
  2. pp. 2-5
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  1. Contents
  2. pp. v-6
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  1. Map of Villon's Paris
  2. pp. vi-viii
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  1. Acknowledgments
  2. pp. ix-x
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  1. Introduction
  2. pp. xi-2
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  1. Bequests
  2. pp. 3-26
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  1. The Testament
  2. pp. 27-164
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  1. Shorter Poems
  1. Espitre/Letter to His Friends
  2. pp. 167-170
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  1. Probleme/Ballade of Fortune
  2. pp. 171-174
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  1. Ballade des pendus/Ballade of the Hanged Men
  2. pp. 175-178
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  1. Ballade des proverbes/Ballade of Proverbs
  2. pp. 179-182
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  1. Je congnois tout fors que moy mesmes/Everything But Myself
  2. pp. 183-184
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  1. Ballade des contre-vérités/Ballade of Countertruths
  2. pp. 185-186
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  1. Le débat de Villon et de son coeur/Villon’s Debate with His Heart
  2. pp. 187-190
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  1. Louange à Marie d’Orléans/In Praise of Marie d’Orléans
  2. pp. 191-198
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  1. Je meurs de seuf auprés de la fontaine/I Die of Thirst at the Fountain’s Edge
  2. pp. 199-202
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  1. Ballade franco-latine/Advice for the Groom
  2. pp. 203-204
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  1. Requête au Prince/Request to the Prince
  2. pp. 205-208
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  1. Ballade contre les ennemis de la France/Ballade Against the Enemies of France
  2. pp. 209-212
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  1. Ballade de bon conseil/Ballade of Good Counsel
  2. pp. 213-216
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  1. Le Quatrain que feit Villon quant il fut jugé a mourir/The Quatrain That Villon Made When He Was Condemned to Die
  2. pp. 217-218
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  1. La Question que feist Villon au clerc du guiche/Now What Do You Think of My Appeal?
  2. pp. 219-220
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  1. La Louenge que feist Villon a la Court/The Praise That Villon Gave to the Court
  2. pp. 221-224
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  1. Abbreviations
  2. pp. 225-226
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  1. Notes: A Companion to the Poems
  2. pp. 227-268
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  1. Works Cited
  2. pp. 269-272
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