Book is xi + 369 pp. A reprint in a new collection of Reid's translation from Spanish of Borges, "Composición escrita en un ejemplar de la gesta de Beowulf." As the title indicates, this book is meant as a a kind of Borges primer; of the several poems reflecting Borges' interest in Old English literature, only this one was selected for inclusion. The English text is reprinted here in the form originally published in 1967, reverting the slight editorial changes that had been made for the Norman Thomas di Giovanni collection of 1972.

The text begins:

At various times, I have asked myself what reasons
moved me to study, while my night came down,
without particular hope of satisfaction,
the language of the blunt-tongued Anglo-Saxons. (285)

And ends:

Beyond my anxiety, beyond this writing,
the universe waits, inexhaustible, inviting. (286)

BAM.