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Preface THE PREFATORY note to the first edition of this translation, written many years ago, was triggered by remarks in Robert Lowell’s introduction to his book Imitations, where he rather denigrated the whole idea of close metrical translation. In the process of disagreeing, I happened to remark that ‘No version of Villon can satisfy for long. If this one opens again the possibility of strict metrical translation it will have lasted long enough.’ Lowell’s contention has since that time been seriously questioned by the achievements of many other formal translators, so my earlier remarks are no longer necessary. Much to my own astonishment, the longevity of that translation has also proved me wrong. In hindsight, I find an irony in my remarks on close translation since I now feel that my original versions took too much Poundian creative liberty with the text. In this revision I hope to have moved much closer to the literal, where the spirit allows, without losing the energy of that first enthusiasm. It is also time to respond to several suggestions of sympathetic critics, and to correct several infelicities and slips that have become apparent. Thus the text has been extensively revised, and, I hope, improved. The opportunity has also been taken to make the indexes and titling more user-friendly and to remove the youthful affectation of starting lines with lowercase initials. Lastly I have added one or two versions of poems not included in the original edition. But there is no need for me to alter my original closing remarks. My thanks to William Cookson are renewed for all his encouragement and practical help. My debt remains to predecessors such as Anthony Bonner for his Complete Works of François Villon, Museum Press, 1960, and to Galway Kinnell for his version, The Poems of François Villon, Signet Classics, 1965. Swinburne’s, Rossetti’s, Lowell’s, Wilbur’s and, most of all, Tom Scott’s versions have been of great assistance in deciding 9

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