See the opening of the greatest English epic poem here, with links so you can compare it with its classical models, the Aeneid, Iliad and Odyssey. In the illustration by William Blake, an Archangel warns Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. In the background, beyond the Tree of Knowledge, an elephant “wreathes his lithe proboscis” (Paradise Lost Book 4, line 347).
See the new Latin poetry selection here, with pieces from Boethius, Horace and Virgil.
The latest in Pantheon Poets’ Latin (and Greek) selections is of poems of travel by Catullus, Homer, Ovid and Virgil; enjoy it here.
The River Tiber has stilled his flow so that Aeneas with two ships can row upstream to meet a potential ally, King Evander of the Arcadians – whose city, Pallanteum, now stands where Rome will be in time to come. Evander gives a guided tour and welcomes Aeneas into his home, where previous visitors have included Hercules himself. The illustration is from a 5th century manuscript of Virgil in the Vatican.
Hear the Latin and follow in English here.
Catullus is self-deprecating about his new little book of poems – but he wants it to last nevertheless.
The poet holding a Roman book in the illustration is Virgil, from a fifth-century manuscript. The text below him is unpunctuated and written in continuous capitals, suggesting that reading poetry to yourself was not as easy then as it is now. The round bin on the left is a bookcase.
Hear the Latin and follow in English here.
Catullus has heard that Aurelius and Furius are saying that, to judge from the erotic poetry that he writes, he is living an immoral life. Catullus responds in no uncertain terms. THIS POEM CONTAINS VERY BAD LANGUAGE AND IMAGERY THAT SOME READERS MAY FIND OFFENSIVE.
Hear it in Latin and follow in English here.
When he wrote this poem, Horace believed he had completed the Odes, and felt fully entitled to claim pride and credit for them for himself and his muse: in fact he had another book to go. The picture of Melpomene, to whom the poem is dedicated, is by the Austrian painter Alexander Rothaug.
Hear the Latin and follow in English here.
As war with Turnus and the Italians looms for Aeneas and his Trojans, Father Tiber offers helpful advice. Hear the Latin from Book 8 of the Aeneid and follow in English here.
The immortal Marcel Proust was born on 10 July 1871. To celebrate, Pantheon Poets posts a recently-published love poem written when he was doing his military service. See the original and a parallel translation here.