Boethius: The Poems from On the Consolation of Philosophy

Author: Boethius

Translator: Peter Glassgold

Publisher: World Poetry Books (2024)

Since Boethius (480–524) wrote his On the Consolation of Philosophy imprisoned and in chains, he has been regarded as a consummate martyr of conscience who, fallen from political grace, rose above his personal agony to an impersonal magnanimity that shamed his murderers by its example. Chief among the text’s many translators are King Alfred the Great, Geoffrey Chaucer, and Elizabeth I. Glassgold’s startlingly original Boethius includes his collage translations along with the original Latin, an informative Preface, a Note on Texts, Method, and Pronunciation, as well as a thorough Glossary of Early English words. This new, expanded edition adds a Foreword by Charles Bernstein and an Afterword by Glassgold.