King Lear: A Verse Translation

This revised 2nd edition of King Lear: A Verse Translation makes the language of Shakespeare's play more modern while preserving the rhythm, complexity, and poetic qualities of the original. The aim is to capture the sound and sense of Shakespeare's tragedy without the need for glosses or notes-to use contemporary language without simplifying or modernizing the play in any other way.

FeaturesLine-by-line verse translation, not a prose paraphrase.Complete. No lines deleted or simplified.Accurate and authentic iambic pentameter.True to the feel and look of Shakespeare's original.Tone, complexity, and poetic devices preserved.Vocabulary range matches Shakespeare's.Uncluttered, easy-to-read layout.Ready for theatrical performance.



Readers experience the brutal downfall of Shakespeare's most dysfunctional family with the comprehension and delight of audiences 400 years ago-the way Shakespeare intended.

"Too often, unless we read a Shakespeare play beforehand, we process the language as if it were coming from a poorly tuned-in radio station. Shakespeare didn't write his plays to be experienced impressionistically as 'poetry;' he assumed his language was readily comprehensible. At what point does a stage of a language become so different from the modern one as to make translation necessary? Mr. Richmond is brave enough to assert that, for Shakespeare, that time has come. The French have Moliere, the Russians have Chekhov--and now, we can truly say that we have our Shakespeare."

--John McWhorter, Manhattan Institute