I love this book: the seven versions of the Emperor Hadrian's last poem are cute and touching if you read them as being addressed to a younger lover who is leaving the speaker (as I did before being led onto the correct path); addressed to the soul as death approaches, they're still cute and touching, only they touch a different, deeper spot. I didn't enjoy or understand Rimbaud when I had to study him 40 odd years ago, but DM's translations make me want to give him another try. Even when dealing inscrutably with angels, in which I find it hard to believe DM believes, the poems have a sensuous engagement with language and with the world that I find very attractive.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/23547953/iblog/C1020611578/E20070602095259/i...