They have inspired poets and challenged translators through the
centuries. The odes of Horace are the cornerstone of lyric poetry in the
Western world. Their subtlety of tone and brilliance of technique have
often proved elusive, especially when--as has usually been the case--a
single translator ventures to maneuver through Horace's infinite
variety. Now for the first time, leading poets from America, England,
and Ireland have collaborated to bring all 103 odes into English in a
series of new translations that dazzle as poems while also illuminating
the imagination of one of literary history's towering figures.
The thirty-five contemporary poets assembled in this outstanding volume
include nine winners of the Pulitzer prize for poetry as well as four
former Poet Laureates. Their translations, while faithful to the Latin,
elegantly dramatize how the poets, each in his or her own way, have
engaged Horace in a spirited encounter across time.
Each of the odes now has a distinct voice, and Horace's poetic
achievement has at last been revealed in all its mercurial majesty. In
his introduction, J. D. McClatchy, the volume's editor and one of the
translators, reflects on the meaning of Horace through the ages and
relates how a poet who began as a cynical satirist went on to write the
odes. For the connoisseur, the original texts appear on facing pages
allowing Horace's ingenuity to be fully appreciated. For the general
reader, these new translations--all of them commissioned for this
book--will be an exhilarating tour of the best poets writing today and
of the work of Horace, long obscured and now freshly minted.
The contributors are Robert Bly, Eavan Boland, Robert Creeley, Dick
Davis, Mark Doty, Alice Fulton, Debora Greger, Linda Gregerson, Rachel
Hadas, Donald Hall, Robert Hass, Anthony Hecht, Daryl Hine, John
Hollander, Richard Howard, John Kinsella, Carolyn Kizer, James Lasdun,
J. D. McClatchy, Heather McHugh, W. S. Mervin, Paul Muldoon, Carl
Phillips, Robert Pinsky, Marie Ponsot, Charles Simic, Mark Strand,
Charles Tomlinson, Ellen Bryantr Voigt, David Wagoner, Rosanna Warren,
Richard Wilbur, C. K. Williams, Charles Wright, and Stephen Yenser.
