Quality and Pleasure in Latin Poetry. - WOODMAN, T., and D. WEST, (eds.),

Cambridge, 1974. VIII,166p. Hardbound with dust wrps. Nice copy.Antiquarian Titel: Quality and Pleasure in Latin Poetry. Auteur: WOODMAN, T., and D. WEST, (eds.),
'The editors of this collection provide an epilogue in which they 'sketch the actual state of literary criticism in Latin poetry as it is represented by this selection of contributors', a self-consciousness of approach characteristic of some of the individual essays. In one sense the concern with method is salutary, particularly for undergraduates, who seem intended as the book's principal audience. Exempla are provided of the manifold approaches desirable in reading ancient poetry. (...) Professor Cairns devotes eight sections to the artistry underlying Catullus 31, of which that on poetic craftsmanship is particularly useful. (...) Professor Kenney's examination of Lucretius 1.62-102 is particularly striking on the use of imagery. (...) Professor Williams expands his treatment of 'Eclogue' 4 in Tradition and Originality, with more stress on the mixture of different levels of poetry. (...) Dr. Lyne sketches the poetic world of the 'Georgics', a combination of the Golden Age and the Roman identification of rural and moral life, centred on the figure of the 'colonus'. From his admirable analysis of 1.463-514 emerges a picture of nature's violent reaction to the rape of 'terra' by the 'impius Mars' of civil war.' (ANNA M. CRABBE in The Classical Review (New Series), 1977, pp.197-198). Other contibutors: D. West, J. Bramble, G. Lee and T. Woodman.