The Solitudes of Don Luis De Gongora: A Text with Verse Translation

Professor Wilson’s translation of the Soleades was first published in Cambridge in 1931 by Gordon Fraser’s Minority Press. This revised edition, with the Spanish text added, was published by Cambridge University Press in 1965. In the first place, Gongora is ‘difficult’, and therefore, fifty students first embarking on the study were glad of the help with ‘meaning’ which an English version provides. But Professor Wilson’s is a translation in the full sense of the word, not just a crib. Its verse follows the varied movement and elaborate structure of the original, and creates an English equivalent of the musical qualities of the Spanish. It gives pleasure of a high order as well as understanding, and was one of the few English versions of the time which approached the status of art. It was therefore of importance for students of translation itself.