Gleanings in French Fields - A Formal Approach to the Translation of French Poetry - With a Representative Selection of Translated Poems from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries

Aug 24, 2026

Gleanings in French Fields presents a formal method for translating French poetry, pairing theoretical discussion with a representative selection of translated poems spanning the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries. It frames translation as entry into a literary canon and a new linguistic world, then develops guiding principles through analysis of versification, historical translation perspectives, and a personal approach. The thesis also examines borrowing and borrowing practices in poetry and introduces translated works by major French authors.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages237

Reading Time9 h 57 min

AccessFree to download

Part I: On Translation

Introduction: New Worlds

Versification in French and English: Conventions and Comparison

Historical Perspectives on Translation

A Personal Approach to Translation

Borrowers and Borrowings in Poetry

Part II: Poets and Poems

Note on the Texts

Louise Labé

Joachim Du Bellay

Pierre de Ronsard

Jean de La Fontaine

L’Abbé de Lattaignant

André Chénier

Victor Hugo

Gérard de Nerval

Théophile Gautier

Leconte de Lisle

Charles Baudelaire

Stéphane Mallarmé

Paul Verlaine

Arthur Rimbaud

Appendices

Timeline of French History, 1500-1900

Acknowledgements

Works Cited

GLEANINGS IN FRENCH FIELDS: A FORMAL APPROACH TO THE TRANSLATION OF FRENCH POETRY, WITH A REPRESENTATIVE SELECTION OF TRANSLATED POEMS FROM THE SIXTEENTH TO THE NINETEENTH CENTURIES | A Thesis
Presented to
The Honors Tutorial College
Ohio University | | --- | | In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for Graduation
from the Honors Tutorial College
with the degree of
Bachelor of Arts in French | by Robert A. Armstrong April, 2020 Invocation: From “Words” by Edward Thomas Out of us all That make rhymes, Will you choose Sometimes— As the winds use A crack in a wall Or a drain, Their joy or their pain To whistle through— Choose me, You English words? Iknow you: You are light as dreams, Tough as oak, Precious as gold, As poppies and corn, Or an old cloak: Worn new Again and again: Young as our streams After rain: And as dear As the earth which you prove That we love Let me sometimes dance With you, Or climb Or stand, perchance In ecstasy, Fixed and free In a rhyme, As poets do. Table of Contents Part I: On Translation Introduction: New Worlds ....................................................... 1 Versification in French and English: Conventions and Comparison ....................... 4 Historical Perspectives on Translation ............................................. 19 A Personal Approach to Translation .............................................. 30 Borrowers and Borrowings in Poetry.............................................. 40 Part II: Poets and Poems Note on the Texts ............................................................. 73 Louise Labé ................................................................. 74 Joachim Du Bellay ............................................................ 82 Pierre de Ronsard ............................................................. 91 Jean de La Fontaine ........................................................... 97 L’Abbé de Lattaignant ........................................................ 103 André Chénier ............................................................... 109 Victor Hugo ................................................................. 118 Gérard de Nerval ............................................................ 150 Théophile Gautier ............................................................ 157 Leconte de Lisle ............................................................. 166 Charles Baudelaire ........................................................... 179 Stéphane Mallarmé ........................................................... 190 Paul Verlaine ............................................................... 195 Arthur Rimbaud ............................................................. 200 Appendices Timeline of French History, 1500-1900 ........................................... 217 Acknowledgements ........................................................... 225 Works Cited ................................................................ 228 PartI: On Translation Introduction: New Worlds Then felt I like some watcher of the skies When a new planet swims into his ken John Keats 1 In the summer of 2015, I made my entry into the world of French literature as many Americans have done for the past 70-plus years: with Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s Le Petit Prince. The copy was old—a Houghton Mifflin educational edition from my grandmother’s school days, published only three years after the book’s first American appearance, and the very same year it made its debut in liberated France (Cerisier n. pag.) . That this now-venerable text was being used to introduce schoolchildren to French literature even in the 1940’s struck me; it bespeaks an instant canonicity for the book. Le Petit Prince certainly has a seminal place in the French canon today—for myself, for all the French students in

FAQs

What is the central focus of the thesis?

The thesis focuses on a formal approach to translating French poetry, supported by a representative selection of translated poems from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries.

How does the thesis explain translation as an educational process?

It treats translation and reading as a way to enter a new literary world, where knowledge of a canon underpins the student’s ability to understand and explore literature.

What topics are covered in Part I on translation?

Part I addresses versification in French and English, historical perspectives, a personal approach to translation, and the role of borrowing in poetry.

Aug 24, 2026

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