FASCINATION AND FEAR: PHILIP AYRES’ TRANSLATIONS OF SPANISH VERSE
FASCINATION AND FEAR: PHILIP AYRES’ TRANSLATIONS OF SPANISH VERSE

Summary/Abstract: Philip Ayres is among a handful of seventeenth century English poets who chose to translate Spanish verse. Like many of his countrymen, Ayres was fascinated with the culture and literature of Spain, prompting him to focus on such prominent writers as Garcilaso de la Vega and Juan Lopez de Ubeda. This fascination was tempered by fear, however, due to Spain’s connection to Rome and Catholicism. This fear was so deeply ingrained in the English mindset that it often led many contemporary English writers to routinely refer to the pope as “the antichrist” in various sermons and pamphlets. This essay places Ayres’ seventeenth century translations from the Spanish within that social and historical context, and argues that to fully understand Ayres’ translating choices, we must consider the fascination and fear these two countries had for each other.

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