on b e a u d e Marot t& e *7ftcc& ic n t y u & y e PA MIGNONKE, fJE V°VS Do HUE 'LE BONJOUR; — — — JLE SEjOUR GU£f''SON^cotn,Rr, "D, C EST PR,S0Af. • * '''^ ’ v,,^meNTi cab CIizu pu:s <wvR£2 v o T . n r r r - ^ ^ LOUCHE, QUl a ENT LE VOUS M^Nde v/'pp-f °" — C0,;CHE » DANGER pouc M; u; Fr,AN3e de h E S ^ -------- *SI TU DUR*S MANG£R “ « W UBES. USA $30.00 CANADA “ $45.50 L ost in an art — the art of translation. Thus, in an elegant anagram (translation = lost in an art), Pulitzer Prize-winning author and pioneering cognitive scientist Douglas Hofstadter hints at what led h;m to pen a deep personal homage to the vvitty sixteenth- century French poet Clement Marot. "Le ton beau de Marot” literally means “The sweet tone of Marot’, but to a French ear it suggests “Le tombeau de Marot” — that is, “The tomb of Marot”. That double entendre foreshadows the linguistic exuberance of this book, which was sparked a decade ago when Hofstadter, under the spell of an exquisite French miniature by Marot, got hooked on the challenge of recreating both its sweet message and its tight rhymes in English — jumping through two tough hoops at once. In the next few years, he not only did many of his own translations of Marot’s poem, but also enlisted friends, students, colleagues, family, noted poets and translators — even three state-of-the-art translation programs! — to try their hand at this subde challenge. The rich harvest is represented here by 88 wildly diverse variations on Marot’s little theme. Yet this barely scratches the surface of Le Ton beau de Marot, for small groups of these poems alternate with chapters that run all over the map of language and thought Not merely a set of translations of one poem, Le Ton beau de Marot is an autobiographical essay, a love letter to the French language, a series of musings on life, loss, and death, a sweet bouquet of stirring poetry — but most of all, it celebrates the limitless creativity fired by a passion for the music of words. Dozens of literary themes and creations are woven into the picture, includjr Pushkin s Eugene Onegin, Dante’s InJ^rnc, Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, Villon’s bai r.vs \bokov’s essays, Georges Perec’s La dispan .inn, Vikram Seth’s Golden Gate, Horace’s odes, more. (continued on back flap) Le Ton beau de Marot 'P 'ta tee t£ e ‘Tttu& ic A a ttyu a ye Le Ton beau de Marot P‘ ’uU & e t& e "T ftco U c <x£ A a s t y u a y e Douglas R. Hofstadter * * * * * * * * * * v^iz n^X-' ^^ v^L' vL* * * * * * * * * * * BasicBooks A Division of HarperCollins Publishers Copvright © 1997 by BasicBooks, A Division of HarperCollins Publishers. Inc. Design and composition by the author, using Akimbo FullWrite 2. Cover art and bookmark by Frank Holmes. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book mav be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address BasicBooks, 10 East 53rd Street, New York, N.Y. 10022-5299. On page xii, reproduced with kind permission of the Louvre Museum, Paris: Portrait presume de Clement Marot, poete (avec cadre) de Corneille de Lvon (ca. 1500-ca. 1575) Musee du Louvre, Paris, France © Photo RMN — Gerard Blot Made available by the Agence photographique de la reunion des musees nationaux, Paris. Philippe Couton, archhist. Because of the large number of permissions and acknowledgments in this book, it is impossible to fit the remainder of them onto this copyright page. They have therefore been placed in a separate section on pages 607-608. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hofstadter, Douglas R.. 1945- Le Ton beau de Marot: in praise of the music of language / by Douglas R Hofstadter. p. cm. Includes the text of Clement Marot’s A une damoyselle malade with numerous English translations. Includes bibliographical references (p. 599) and index. ISBN 0-465-08643-8 1. Translating and interpreting. I Marot, Clement. 1496-1544. A une damovselle malade. English & French. II. Title. P306.H63 1997 418'.02—dc21 97-3999 CIP 97 98 99 RRD 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 7 * & T>.. livitty <*£ t& ein fovitty 4&ul Table of Contents Introduction: In Joy and in Sorrow xiii 1: l&e (Zi&H&it ’THanat 1 Poems I: Original and Literal A une Damoyselle malade (Clement Marot) 1 a-1 b To a Sick Damsel (D. Hofstadter) 2a-2b My Sweet Maid, (D. Hofstadter) 3a-3b My Sweet/Cute [One] (Feminine) (D. Hofstadter) 4a—4b My Small Princess; Touchstones (D. Hofstadter) 5a-5b (Z&o.frte’i 2: 0?&i t6e A'u+e qt P*e*K £x>mk *D<u^ 5 Poems II: Gals and Try sts My Sweet Dear (D. Hofstadter) 6a—6b Cutie Pie (D. Hofstadter) 7a-7b Fairest Friend (Robert French) 8a—8b Fairest Friend (II) (Robert French) 9a-9b (Z-tuifite’i 3: fixiCcf, t&e am, 15 Poems III: Antique Airs To My Sweet (Melanie Mitchell) 10a—10b My Dear Sue (Melanie Mitchell) 11 a-11 b On Ye, Childe; On Ye, Child (D. Hofstadter) 12a-l2b 0 My Sweet (D. Hofstadter/William Cavnar) 13a-13b (Z^zfttex 4: 63 Poems IV: Oklahoman Honey Bun (David Moser) 14a-14b Lover Mine (David Moser) 15a— 15b Sugar Lump; Sugar Lump Flip Flop (David Moser/D. Hofstadter) 16a-16b Dearest Dear (David Moser) 17a-17b 103 Poems V: Sue Suite Sweet Sue (David Moser) 18a— 18b Sweetmeat Sue (David Moser/D. Hofstadter) 19a-19b Meat-sweet Sue (David Moser/D. Hofstadterj 20a-20b Sweet Sue (II) (David Moser) 21a—21b Table of Contents vii ♦ ♦ ♦ i i 6: *74e Stdkle /lit <*£ 7n4i*t4ccitU<ruti66*tr 141 Poems VI: Bold Ventures Love (Robert French) 22a-22b My Minion (Melanie Mitchell) 23a-23b Dear, Your Bard; Your Old Bard (0. B. Hardison/D. Hofstadter) 24a-24b Hey, Chick (Hugh Kenner); Good Morning, Little Hon ’ (Michael Kandel) 25a-25b Hi Toots! (Nancy Hofstadter) 26a-26b (26afit&t 7: 7/U*K&ie S&iettceA 171 Poems VII: A Gala of Gists Mots-cles marrants (Clement Marot): Fun Key-words (D. Hofstadter) 27a-27b Funky Words (D. Hofstadter) 28a-28b Funky Mots (Clement Marot/D. Hofstadter) 29a-29b Charms of Form (D. Hofstadter) 30a-30b %: /4 'H&vel c*t *Vena& 233 Poems VIII: Sassy City You My Sweet (D. Hofstadter) 31a-31b Pet of Mine (D. Hofstadter) 32a-32b Kiddo, Hi! (D. Hofstadter) 33a-33b Hurry, Love (D. Hofstadter) 34a-34b Pretty Dear (D. Hofstadter) 35a-35b Pretty One (D. Hofstadter) 36a-36b 9: /4 *Vile 'Hw-verue 255 Poems IX: Two Little Families My Petite (D. Hofstadter) 37a-37b My Pet, Eat (D. Hofstadter) 38a-38b Pal Petite (D. Hofstadter) 39a-39b Little Gem (D. Hofstadter) 40a-40b Linile Gem; Gintie Gem (D. Hofstadter) 47 a-41b Gentle Gem (D. Hofstadter) 42a-42b JO: Ok ‘TVtvtdi avut 279 Poems X: Struttin ’ my Stuff Goldilocks (D. Hofstadter) 43a—43b Turtle Dove (D. Hofstadter) 44a-44b My Wee One (D. Hofstadter) 45a-45b Babe o’Mine; Darlin’ Mine (D. Hofstadter) 46a-46b Hey, Hot Lips! (D. Hofstadter) 47a-47b To a Damsel in Bed (D. Hofstadter) 48a-48b To the End (D. Hofstadter) 49a-49b viii Table of Contents ♦ ♦ ♦