The Latin Poetry of Thomas Gray
Subtitle: Edited with Introduction, Translation and Commentary
By: Estelle Haan
Edition: 1st ed.
Series: Bloomsbury Neo-Latin Series: Early Modern Texts and Anthologies
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Published: 2024
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 280
ISBN-13: 9781350419902
Subjects: Literary criticism; Poetry; Classical texts; European history; Latin
Description: <b>In the first full-scale edition of Thomas Gray's Latin poetry, the Latin text and facing English translation are complemented by a detailed introduction and comprehensive commentary that situate Gray's Latin verse in relation to his vernacular poetry, epistolary correspondence, and, especially, his appropriation of classical and Neo-Latin literature. </b>This book also traces hitherto unlocated manuscripts of several of his Latin poems, and includes an <i>editio princeps </i>of recently discovered Latin verses pertaining to his Neapolitan sojourn.    Gray's Latin poetry presents an illuminating portrait of the artist as a young man, mapping his growth and development from his Etonian days to his undergraduate years at Cambridge University, to his continental journey and his return to England. Impressively eclectic in its scope and tone, it ranges from experimental renderings of English, Greek and Italian verse to more strikingly original pieces, including poetic reinterpretations of Alexander Pope's <i>Essay on Man </i>and John Locke's <i>An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding</i>. Gray looks back to a classical past, offering imaginative re-readings of Lucretius, Virgil and Horace. At the same time, his Latin verse is firmly rooted in a postclassical world. At its heart is the theme of presences, whether sacred, imagined, absent or remembered, conveyed with a linguistic ingenuity that facilitates the encoding of homoeroticism in a Neo-Latin language of sensibility.
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Table of contents: title: Preface Editorial Policy Abbreviations  Introduction The Latin Poetry of Thomas Gray: Text and Translation Commentary  Notes Bibliography Index