Daily Times

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 35 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.