Published in 1951, this is an exhaustive study of the versification of the great Latin elegists of the Augustan age.

Latin love elegy is one of the most important poetic genres in the Augustan era, also known as the golden age of Roman literature. This volume brings together leading scholars from Australia, Europe and North America to present and explore the Greek and Roman backdrop for Latin love elegy, the individual Latin love elegists (both the canonical and the non-canonical), their poems and influence on writers in later times. The book is designed as an accessible introduction for the general reader interested in Latin love elegy and the history of love and lament in Western literature, as well as a collection of critically stimulating essays for students and scholars of Latin poetry and of the classical tradition.

The Versus Eporedienses (Verses from Ivrea), written around the year 1080 and attributed to a certain Wido, is a highly fascinating elegiac love poem celebrating worldly pleasures in an age usually associated with contemptus mundi. One of the poem's intriguing features, its extensive use of the Latin classics, especially of Ovid, makes it a precursor of the poetry of the so-called twelfth-century renaissance. In this first book-length study of the poem, the author provides a historical contextualisation, a verse-by-verse commentary, a detailed analysis of the classical sources and a discussion of its similarities with contemporary and later medieval poetry.

Parallel latin & English texts.

Provides the necessary context to read elegiac and lyric poetry, designed for novice and experienced Classics and Latin students alike A Guide to Latin Elegy and Lyric explores the language of Latin poetry while helping readers understand the socio-cultural context of the remarkable period of Roman literary history in which the poetry was composed. With an innovative approach to this important area of classical scholarship, the authors treat elegy alongside lyric as they cover topics such as the Hellenistic influences on Augustan poetry, the key figures that shaped the elegiac tradition of Rome, the motifs of militia amoris ("the warfare of love") and servitium amoris (“the slavery of love”) in Latin love elegy, and more. Organized into ten chapters, the book begins with an introduction to the literary, political, and social contexts of the Augustan Age. The next six chapters each focus on an individual lyric and elegiac poet—Catullus, Horace, Tibullus, Propertius, Ovid, and Sulpicia—followed by a survey of several lesser-known poets and post-Augustan elegy and lyric. The text concludes with a discussion of major tropes and themes in Latin elegy and lyric, and an overview and analysis of key critical approaches in current scholarship. This volume: Includes full translations alongside the Latin throughout the text to illustrate discussions Analyzes recurring themes and tropes found in Latin poetry such as sexuality and gender, politics and patronage, myth and religion, wealth and poverty, empire, madness, magic, and witchcraft Reviews modern critical approaches to elegiac and lyric poetry including autobiographical realism, psychoanalysis, narratology, reception, and decolonization Includes helpful introductory sections: "How to Read a Latin Elegiac or Lyric Poem" and "How to Teach a Latin Elegiac and Lyric Poem" Provides information about each poet, an in-depth discussion of some of their poetry, and cultural and historical background Features a dedicated chapter on Sulpicia, offering readers an ancient female viewpoint on sex and gender, politics, and patronage Part of the acclaimed Blackwell Guides to Classical Literature series, A Guide to Latin Elegy and Lyric is the perfect text for both introductory and advanced courses in Latin elegy and lyric, accessible for students reading the poetry in translation, as well as for those experienced in Latin with an interest in learning a different approach to the subject.