Description
The Lyre and the Laurel: Selected Latin Poetry
Book Summary
This work brings together for the first time in Spanish a broad selection of Francesco Petrarch's Latin poetry, translated into verse. Far from the success of his lyric poetry in the vernacular, these poems in Latin hexameters represent the author's most erudite and ambitious facet. The volume allows the Spanish-speaking reader to access fundamental texts of early humanism, including fragments of the epic project "Africa," which earned him the title of "Poeta laureatus." A unique opportunity to discover the work that cemented his fame in his time.
What is it about?
Petrarch (1304-1374) is a key figure in the transition between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Although his fame is mainly due to his poems in Italian, his Latin production was equally vast and significant. The Lyre and the Laurel offers a careful selection of this poetry, composed in hexameters, the classical epic meter. The texts address themes such as literary glory, moral reflection, friendship, and admiration for classical Antiquity. It includes passages from "Africa," his epic poem about Scipio Africanus, which granted him the highest intellectual recognition of his era. This edition, with translation in verse, recovers an essential part of Petrarch's work, relegated for centuries to the specialized sphere.
Main themes
- Renaissance humanism and the recovery of classical culture.
- Latin epic poetry and the imitation of models such as Virgil.
- The search for literary glory and intellectual recognition.
- Moral and philosophical reflection on power and virtue.
- Friendship and patronage in the context of the 14th century.
Who is it recommended for?
This book is aimed at readers interested in classical and Renaissance poetry, scholars of Latin literature and humanism, as well as those who wish to know Petrarch's complete work beyond his famous sonnets. It will also be of great value to students of classical philology, literary history, and lovers of scholarly poetry who seek texts of great formal and thematic richness.
What this book provides
- Access to an unpublished selection in Spanish of Petrarch's Latin poetry, translated into verse.
- Understanding of the humanist context that gave rise to the figure of the "Poeta laureatus."
- Knowledge of a fundamental but little-disseminated part of Petrarch's work.
- A more complete vision of the author, key to understanding the transition to the Renaissance.
Technical specifications
- Author: Petrarch, Francesco
- Publisher: Anthropos Editorial
- Language: Spanish
- Topic: CLASSICAL TEXTS, POETRY, POETRY BY INDIVIDUAL POETS, PLAYS, THEATRICAL TEXTS
- Collection: TEXTS AND DOCUMENTS
- Binding: Paperback
- Date of publication: May 2013
- Number of pages: 336
- Weight: 395 g
Editorial assessment
This edition fills a significant gap in the dissemination of Petrarch's work in Spanish. The translation into verse of the Latin hexameters is a success that brings the musicality and original epic tone closer to the reader. For those who already know the lyrical Petrarch, this volume reveals a more ambitious and classicist dimension of its author. It is a reference work for specialists and a valuable discovery for any reader interested in the origins of European humanism.