The Golden Age: Poems of the Spanish Renaissance Book

Grossman's anthology is the perfect introduction to Golden Age writers. She includes choice selections of verse from all the big names -- Garcilaso de la Vega, Fray Luis de Leon, St. John of the Cross, Gongora, Lope de Vega, and Quevedo -- as well as two writers who are just outside the timeframe of the Golden Age (but very much a welcome addition to the anthology): Jorge Manrique and Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz. I was especially glad for Grossman's translation of Manrique's Coplas because I had been having trouble tracking down any translation other than Longfellow's 19th century version online. All the Sor Juana sonnets appear in Grossman's translations of her work, Sor Juana Inés de La Cruz: Selected Works, which I am reading now and also recommend along with her translation of Gongora's The Solitudes. Each writer in this anthology is given a brief (two-page) introduction with biographies and highlights of their work, while the poems are presented side-by-side in dual language format.

I only had a few minor criticisms. The biggest was that there were so few selections. The anthology is less than 200 pages (and half of those pages are the original Spanish language poems, so really we are getting less than 100 pages of verse). I realize the difficult task of creating these translations, so I guess I can't fault Grossman too much there. I also thought the Billy Collins introduction added little to the collection other than his name on the jacket. This was clearly meant to be a popular edition for casual English readers. I guess my ideal book would have had a bit more of a scholarly angle (more footnotes, more translations, more detailed introductions to the writers, etc.). However, the anthology works for what it is, and makes a nice springboard for readers interested in diving deeper into these writers' lives and works.