Poets In A Landscape

Gilbert Highet was a legendary teacher at Columbia University, admired for his scholarship and his charisma as a lecturer. Poets in a Landscape is his delightful exploration of both Latin literature and the Italian landscape. As Highet writes in his introduction, "I have endeavored to recall some of the greatest Roman poets by describing the places were they lived, recreating their characters and evoking the essence of their work." The poets are Catullus, Virgil, Horace, Propertius, Tibullus, Ovid, and Juvenal. Highet sketches the stories of the poets' lives and fills in the historical background, while offering crisp modern translations of their finest work and memorably vivid descriptions of the natural world. The result is an entirely sui generis amalgam of travel writing, biography, criticism, and pure poetry-altogether an unexcelled introduction to the world of the classics.

“"A guidebook to present-day Italian scenes and an introduction to seven of the great Latin poets, whom we meet on their own grounds…the places and people we meet on this very special trip make this extremely attractive for all who love the beauties of nature and at the same time like to remind themselves of the great works of men and the glories of past civilizations." Paul Jordan Smith,Los Angeles Times "A walk back in time to a Roman Italy of 2,000 and the lives of seven Latin poets." Jacob Deschin,The New York Times "...this book has established itself as a minor classic, or quite simply as a classic…The writing is sensitive and notably intelligent, backed up by Highet's competent verse renderings from the Latin, and to cap it all he gives a pen-picture of Rome itself at its imperial apex. Here is scholarship in the old sense, humane, unpedantic, open-minded and totally free of academic jargon." Brian Fallon,The Irish Times A "delightful, infectious book…Highet writes racily about the Latin poets he admires, putting each in situ with the airy dash now frowned upon in today's dourer academy. He knows much. And enthuses even more. This is a labor of love that is never labored. Highet's attention to prosodic details gets us within earshot of his authors." The Herald(Glasgow) "Highet has written what is surely one of the most unusual travel books ever published. It is in one sense an account of a journey to Italy, complete with pictures taken by the author's 'faithful Rolleiflex.' In another sense it is the journal of a trip into the Italy of the past…translated by the author with loving care and capturing as faithfully as possible the meter and structure of the oritinal work." Robert Kirsch,Los Angeles Times "This attractive and pleasantly educational work...includes some lucid and enlightening critical interpretation…In tracing the birthplaces and homes of his seven poets Mr. Highet has written sketches of many places in Italy outside the orbit of most tourists…Poets in a Landscapeis a strikingly handsome example of bookmaking." Orville Prescott,The New York Times "With great love and scholarship…he brings his poets and their troubles fully alive." Stevie Smith "Highet is that rarest of finds, the scholarlyhomme complet,full-blodded, cultured, completely human in his learning." The Times Literary Supplement(London) "Unlike many scholars he succeeds in getting into the skin of his poets, finding the man in the style…there he can detect a writer's true self." Cyril Connolly”

What a delight to have a new edition of this inspirational book. Highet, professor of classics, broadcaster and literary critic, was famous for his teaching. This book, first published in 1957, is propelled not just by his love for Latin poetry but by a powerful desire to communicate the details of that love, and a manifest skill in doing so. Horace, Catallus, Juvenal and others are conveyed as individuals; Rome as a city of 'boiling streets' to revel in or flee; the varying regional countryside as homeland or retreat. All this is achieved through the meticulous, imaginative use of sparse evidence. The scholarship is cautious but the teaching personal, so that history is enriched, not swamped, with anecdotes. No Latin is assumed, yet through his translations and precisely articulated explanations, Highet conveys the poets' linguistic brilliance and idiosyncrasies. Sadly, the slightly eccentric selection of grainy black and white photographs in the original have gone, and a map would really help. But there is compensation in Michael Putnam's brief, illuminating preface. Guardian Highet loved the Latin poets with an obvious passion and his way with verse was second only to his sense of place. Scotsman

Gilbert Highet (1906-1978) was a professor at both Oxford and Columbia. In the 1950s he hosted a radio program called People, Places and Books, which was carried by more than two hundred radio stations, and was a judge for the Book-of-the-Month Club. He served as a literary critic for Harper's Magazine during the early 1950s and was the author of more than a dozen books, including works on literary history, essays, poems, and criticism. Michael Putnam is the W. Duncan MacMillan II Professor of Classics at Brown University. His most recent book is The Virgilian Tradition, co-edited with Jan Ziolkowski.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.