Review: Seven Fables by Robert Henryson

The Testament of Cresseid & Seven Fables by Robert Henryson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A master of high narrative, Henryson was also a comic master of the verse fable, and his burlesques of human weakness in the guise of animal wisdom are delicately pointed with irony. Seven of the Fables are here sparklingly translated by Heaney, their freshness rendered to the last claw and feather.

Please note that this review is only of the seven fables in this book, and not The Testament of Cresseid', as the seven fables were part of my university reading list, whereas The Testament of Cresseid was not.

Firstly, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved these fables. These seven fables are all retellings of Aesop's fables, or are based on these; each uses animal characters to teach its readers moral messages.

My favourite fables were The Lion and the Mouse, and The Two Mice. I thought both of these, especially, had an almost fairy-tale like quality to them, and were 'cute'.

I also liked The Toad and The Mouse due to the reference of physiognomy, yet this is perhaps the saddest and most poignant of all the tales in this book. Yet its moral message is just as applicable in today's society, as are any of the other fables' messages.

Most of the fables are split into sections: the actual tale, and then a 'Morality' section. However, a couple also include a prologue-like beginning as well. This made them easy to read, and the morality section often tells the reader what the different animals could be symbolic of in the human world.

The majority of the fables look at the negative aspects of mankind, making this a powerful read with a hugely moral purpose.

Written in poem form, these fables have a nice rhythm, however, as Henryson's original writing is on the left hand page and Heaney's translation on the right, I can see that in several places Seamus Heaney has added in extra syllables, and, in some cases, changed the meaning of particular lines--whether this is an improvement on Henryson's original text, I am still undecided.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading these fables and I read them in one sitting. Would highly recommend that you read them, particularly of you're studying English Literature.

View all my reviews