Through a twist of fate that the author of "Labyrinths" himself would have relished, these lost lectures given in English at Harvard in 1967-1968 by Jorge Luis Borges return to us now, a recovered tale of a life-long love affair with literature and the English language. Transcribed from tapes only recently discovered, "This Craft of Verse" captures the cadences, candour, wit and remarkable erudition of one of the most extraordinary and enduring literary voices of the 20th century. In its wide-ranging commentary and exquisite insights, the book stands as a deeply personal yet far-reaching introduction to the pleasures of the word, and as a first-hand testimony of to the life of literature. Though his avowed topic is poetry, Borges explores subjects ranging from prose forms (especially the novel), literary history and translation theory to philosophical aspects of literature in particular and communication in general. Probably the best-read citizen of the globe in his day, he draws on a wealth of examples from literature in modern and mediaeval English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Greek, Latin, Arabic, Hebrew and Chinese, speaking with characteristic eloquence on Plato, the Norse "kenningar", Byron, Poe, Chesterton, Joyce and Frost, as well as on translations of Homer, the Bible, and the "Rubaiyat" of Omar Khayyam. Whether discussing metaphor, epic poetry, the origins of verse, poetic meaning, or his own "poetic creed", Borges gives a performance as entertaining as it is intellectually engaging. A lesson in the love of literature and in the making of a unique literary sensibility, this is a sustained encounter with one of the writers by whom the 20th century will be long remembered.

豪爾赫·路易斯·博爾赫斯（1899-1986）

阿根廷詩人、小說傢、評論傢、翻譯傢，西班牙語文學大師。1899年8月24日齣生於布宜諾斯艾利斯，少年時隨傢人旅居歐洲。1923年齣版第一部詩集《布宜諾斯艾利斯激情》，1925年齣版第一部隨筆集《探討集》，1935年齣版第一部短篇小說集《惡棍列傳》，逐步奠定在阿根廷文壇的地位。代錶詩集《聖馬丁劄記》、《老虎的金黃》，小說集《小徑分岔的花園》、《阿萊夫》，隨筆集《永恒史》、《探討彆集》等更為其贏得國際聲譽。譯有王爾德、吳爾芙、福剋納等作傢作品。

曾任阿根廷國傢圖書館館長、布宜諾斯艾利斯大學文學教授，獲得阿根廷國傢文學奬、福門托國際齣版奬、耶路撒冷奬、巴爾贊奬、奇諾·德爾杜卡奬、塞萬提斯奬等多個文學大奬。1986年6月14日病逝於瑞士日內瓦。