Viviane

Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron, 1809-1892Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.9

Word count: 50K words
Chapters: 5

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Viviane by Baron Alfred Tennyson TennysonAuthor: Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron, 1809-1892,Language: French, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Dec 12, 2016

Editor's review

Tennyson's Viviane is one of the narrative poems in his Arthurian series. This electronic edition is provided by Project Gutenberg, with the main text in French, and is a free public-domain resource. The work centres on the story of Viviane and Merlin from the Arthurian legend, presenting in poetic form the intertwining of temptation, wisdom and fate, and reflecting Tennyson's reworking of medieval romance and the poetic taste of the Victorian era. Its value for reading lies in observing how the same Arthurian material is handled in different languages and by different poets, and in the management of rhythm and imagery in narrative poetry. As a French text, it suits readers with a foundation in French or those engaged in comparative literature and translation studies. It is advisable first to grasp the basic character relationships of the Arthurian legend, then attend to the dialogue and psychological portrayal in the poem; it may be read alongside the English original or a Chinese translation to appreciate the gains and losses of rhythm in language transfer.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers with French reading ability interested in Victorian poetry
Scholars or students studying the evolution of Arthurian themes and comparative literature
Digital readers who collect public-domain French ebooks and follow Gutenberg resources
Language learners who need multilingual texts for translation practice

Not a good fit for

Readers without French who wish to enjoy the Arthurian story effortlessly
Readers seeking only a Chinese translation or a heavily annotated edition
Readers expecting a complete long epic narrative and impatient with the scale of poetry

Reading tips

First sort out the relationship between Merlin and Vivien in the Arthurian legend, then enter the text
Read aloud the dialogue passages in the poem to feel the rhythm and tone of the French translation
Compare with Tennyson's English original or a Chinese translation to compare differences in imagery and wording
After reading, note how the themes of seduction and wisdom unfold, and form brief annotations

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this Viviane in French or English?

This Gutenberg edition is marked as French, and the text is presented in French. Tennyson's original is an English poem; this edition can be used by French readers or for comparative research, but it cannot be read directly as the English original.

Do I need to know the Arthurian legend first?

It is advisable. The poem involves Arthurian figures such as Merlin and Vivien; if they are completely unfamiliar, it is easy to feel distant at points of character motivation and plot turns. Reading becomes much smoother after briefly checking the character relationships.

Is it suitable for learning French?

It can be used as supplementary material but is not suitable as an introductory textbook. It is a poetic text with condensed language and跳跃 sentence structures, which places a considerable burden on beginners; readers with some French foundation and familiarity with reading poetry will benefit more from it.

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About the author

Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron, 1809-1892 Author

Alfred Tennyson, Baron Tennyson (1809-1892), was a British poet who succeeded Wordsworth as Poet Laureate in 1850. His representative works include Idylls of the King, Maud, and Other Poems, and Enoch Arden. This library holds 17 of his works, commonly classified under inspirational growth. Drawing frequently on classical and medieval legend, his poetry is finely crafted and highly musical, combining Romantic sentiment with a Victorian concern for morality, faith and the meaning of life; Idylls of the King uses the Arthurian legends to explore the conflict between duty and desire. Available public information is limited, and no further biographical details are provided.