A Certain of Aesop's Fables Drawn into English Verse.
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Authors
Aesop
Woodward, George Ratcliffe
Issue Date
1926
Type
Book, Whole
Language
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Now here is an anomaly of a book. I cannot remember where I got it or when, but I find that its price was £10. What kind of publisher is an address? The book must be very rare if it comes from a press so private! I think Woodward is the first person I remember in 1550 fable books who has boasted of a degree in music. His 194 fables, including a few repeaters, are well done. The lines are short and, like the rhymes, strong. I think a proverb may apply here: the shorter the line, the stronger the poem. Many seem to follow song rhythms, including refrain-like repetitions (for example, The Ass and the Wolf on 3-4). Some shorter translations resemble limericks (DM, 8; The Woman and the Hen, 27). There are some differences from the usual handling of fables: the ant is female (2-3). The frogs get three kings: a log, an eel, and a hydra (7-8). The men in 2W laugh at the bald man because they know the reason for his baldness (17). Good: GB (27) and The Murderer (49). AI at the back; no T of C.
Description
Citation
Publisher
Privately printed