"[Stallings] couplets . have a lively, nimble music that should captivate modern ears . Providing an earthy, oboe-like obligato to Ms. Stallings''s airs are the illustrations of Grant Silverstein, cross-hatched sketches that multiply like mice on the page . The Battle , in which beans are happily worn rather than eaten, still has the power to delight."-- Wall Street Journal "It takes real poetic skill to parody a master so subtly that the result becomes mistaken for the poetry of the master himself at play. And now, in A. E.

Stallings translation of the Batrachomyomachia , we have what seems a comparably ambitious and convincing re-creation of that ancient recreation. Stallings is both a trained classicist and a well-regarded poet in English. And she is especially well regarded for her seemingly natural command of meter and rhyme -- a command that''s uncommon in our era. Her rhymed couplets are the product of an innately sensitive ear . The main section presents the poem interwoven on every page with Silverstein''s pencil drawings -- of frogs and mice and weasels and hawks and snakes and gods with human faces. At first, I thought of the illustration as maybe somewhat analogous to medieval illumination. But as I read on, I realized it wasn''t that at all. There''s too much drama in the drawings'' visual punctuation.

I instead came to appreciate their larger role as visual harmonics -- a substitute for a lyre, of sorts, accompanying the combined voices of bard and translator. They are an integral part of the success of this small volume, which I am very glad to have read."-- Los Angeles Review of Books "What fun it must have been for A. E. Stallings to discover The Battle Between the Frogs and the Mice when it first appeared at the Gennadius Library in Athens. The story is a classic parable ''in good Homeric Greek'' that underscores the futility of war but is replete with foolish names and activities that an author like Stallings can play with in rhymed couplets, giving free range to her imagination and wit. She might have taken a scholarly approach; instead the book is a rollicking, fast-paced romp, easily read in a sitting."-- The Hudson Review "The battle begins in Aesopian style with a frog luring a mouse to its death.

(Was it deliberate? You decide.) The subsequent outcry leads to all-out war, albeit a tiny one. Those familiar with the Iliad will thrill at its miniaturization. The names of the heroes (King Pufferthroat begins the plot, and one whiskered Morselsnatcher is its fiercest fighter), the armor and armaments (chickpea shells for helmets and bean pods for shin protection, spears made of rushes), and the inevitable interference of the gods are all present and adorably parallel with expectations. It even ends with a crustaceus ex machina you will not expect . Of course, because this is Stallings, the translation is in tight rhymed verse that balances both the grandeur of epic and the particular qualities of the warriors . The illustrations by Grant Silverstein maintain this balance, taking the combatants seriously (or as seriously as one can take the skinny legs of a standing frog wielding a beet leaf for a shield) and conveying the intensity of the battle."-- Light Poetry Magazine "A delightful surprise .

Clever puns and plays-on-words punctuate the translation and the introduction . There is something Carrollian in Stallings'' taste for puns and in the lightness of her translation as a whole . Grant Silverstein''s gracious etchings of animals and gods evoke well-known drawings by Renaissance artists like Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, and provide a lively visual counterpart to the narrative."-- Bryn Mawr Classical Review "A unique and delightfully entertaining read."-- Midwest Book Review "A virtuosic, witty, charming translation of the greatest epic ever written about mice, with wonderful illustrations by Grant Silverstein. Stallings'' elegant rhyming couplets are the perfect choice to honor the mousy Muse."-- Emily Wilson, Professor of Classics, University of Pennsylvania "Stallings'' translation of this ancient epic is a delight: charming, witty, and vividly alive, with buoyant rhymes and eye-catching illustrations. I suspect this will become a beloved addition in many home libraries.

"-- Madeline Miller, bestselling author of Circe "The characters of this dazzling epic spring to life (and death!) in Grant Silverstein''s exquisitely detailed drawings." -- Ann Temkin, Chief Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art "A delightful translation of an overlooked gem of ancient Greek satire."-- A. M. Juster PRAISE FOR A. E. STALLINGS: "[O]ne of the strongest talents to emerge in recent years."-- Poetry "Through her technical dexterity and graceful fusion of content and form, Stallings is revealing the timelessness of poetic expression and antiquity''s relevance for today.

"-- MacArthur Foundation "Stallings demonstrates formidable confidence in her technical skill, exploring fixed forms, tinkering with traditions, and creating her own combinations of meter and rhyme. She also takes chances."-- Harvard Review on Hapax "A. E. Stallings is not a perfect poet but a poet of perfection, with the patience and courage to bring to her poems what American poetry so rarely knows how to give, and American readers hardly dare to receive; lapidary finish of both form and reading."-- The Yale Review "The most gifted formalist of her generation."-- The Hudson Review "Poet A. E.

Stallings has carved a niche for herself by blending contemporary themes with the images and history of ancient literature. A resident of Athens, Greece for the last two decades, Stallings witnesses every day the juxtaposition of ancient and modern . she combines the haunting beauty of Greek myth with the daily occupations of modern life. The reader comes away with a deeper appreciation for the fact that the people of long-gone eras were, in important ways, the same as us." The Objective Standard.