The Odes of Horace
ISBN: 9780801896422
Platform/Publisher: Project MUSE / Johns Hopkins University Press
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Chapters; Download: Chapters
Subjects: Verse satire Latin; Laudatory poetry Latin;

2009 Outstanding Academic Title, Choice

This groundbreaking new translation of Horace's most widely read collection of poetry is rendered in modern, metrical English verse rather than the more common free verse found in many other translations. Jeffrey H. Kaimowitz adapts the Roman poet's rich and metrically varied poetry to English formal verse, reproducing the works in a way that maintains fidelity to the tone, timbre, and style of the originals while conforming to the rules of English prosody. Each poem is true to the sense and aesthetic pleasure of the Latin and carries with it the dignity, concision, and movement characteristic of Horace's writing.

Kaimowitz presents each translation with annotations, providing the context necessary for understanding and enjoying Horace's work. He also comments on textual instability and explains how he constructed his verse renditions to mirror Horatian Latin.

Horace and The Odes are introduced in lively fashion by noted classicist Ronnie Ancona.


Jeffrey H. Kaimowitz has a Ph.D. in classics with a specialty in Roman poetry and is the head librarian of the Watkinson Library at Trinity College, Connecticut. He has published a number of translations as well as articles relating to classics and publishing in the Renaissance.

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