_My attempt at an English rendering of the Letters is, I think, the
first since the days of Bowles’ ‘Letters from a Portuguese Nun to
an Officer in the French Army,’ London, 1808.[1] But during the two
centuries which have elapsed since their first publication quite a
small literature has grown up around them, and they have been turned
into several European tongues, the French editions alone amounting to
more than thirty. If the numerous so-called ‘Replies’ and ‘Imitations’
were added to this reckoning the number would be nearly doubled, and
this without taking into account the critiques and studies which have
appeared about them. I do not propose here to enter into a comparison
of the Letters with those of Heloïse, as many writers have done, but
shall content myself with referring the curious to the excellent work
of Senhor Cordeiro, ‘Soror Marianna. A Freira Portugueza,’ Lisbon,
1888; 2nd edition, 1891. It is from him that I have learnt nearly
all that I know about Marianna, and in my Introduction I have made a
liberal use of his book, as well as of M. Asse’s preface to the edition
of the ‘Lettres Portuguises avec les Réponses,’ Paris, 1889, upon which
I have based my rendering._
_If my translation should arouse any interest in things Portuguese,
and lead others to read and make versions of such masterpieces of
the world’s literature as the ‘Frei Luiz de Sousa’ and the ‘Folhas
Cahidas’ of Garrett, or the poems of João de Deus, I should be more
than rewarded for any trouble the present work may have cost me.
But who can hope to succeed where Burton has apparently failed? The
English public--and the critics too--will probably continue to believe
that there is nothing worth reading in Portuguese literature with
the exception of the Lusiads. Here too there is perhaps a lesson
to be learnt from the Germans, especially from such as Storck,
Reinhardstoettner, and Michaëlis de Vasconcellos._
_I should like to thank Mr. York Powell of Christ Church for the
kind help which he has given me in the difficult task of translation.
My aim has been throughout to keep as close to the French text as
possible--seeing that the original Portuguese is lost,--aided by the
masterly re-translation of Senhor Cordeiro. L’Estrange’s version--‘Five
Love Letters from a Nun to a Cavalier,’ London, 1678,--is somewhat free
at times, but it has aided me in the Third Letter. I have followed
Cordeiro in his re-arrangement of the order of the Letters, the Second
and Fourth changing places._
_The historical facts which concern the hero and heroine of these
Letters I have given briefly in the Introduction, and a Bibliography
and Appendix will be found at the end of the volume. The text of the
first French edition of 1669 has been copied in Paris purposely for
this work, and will, it is hoped, add much to its interest and value._
_And so I deliver poor Marianna’s passionate Epistles to the
consideration of those who can appreciate them and feel for her._
And weeping then she made her moan,
‘The night comes on that knows not morn,
When I shall cease to be all alone,
To live forgotten and love forlorn.’