The twelve “lays" of Marie de France, the earliest knownFrench woman poet, are here presented in sprightly English verse bypoet/translator David R. Slavitt. These old Breton folk tales were theraw material for Marie de France’s series of lively but profoundconsiderations of love, life, death, fidelity and betrayal, and luckand fate. They are acute observations about the different kinds ofchoices women make, startling in the late twelfth century andchallenging even today. The lays, which combine a woman’s wisdomwith an impressive technical bravura, are a minor treasure of Europeanculture. | The Lays of Marie de France by David R. Slavitt, Paperback | Indigo Chapters