Le Ton Beau De Marot: In Praise Of The Music Of Language

838 Pages·1998·29.81 MB·English

by  Douglas R. Hofstadter

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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
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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
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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
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