The Odes of Horace (Johns Hopkins New Translations from Antiquity) - Softcover

"With Kaimowitz's Odes, we can learn to love and comprehend Horace's verse as we see his monument up close in a new light."

"Kaimowitz captures the speed and cadence of Horace's often quite long phrases and sentences, keeping their elegance and grandeur―no easy task. This volume provides an excellent way for non–Latin reading scholars, students, and general readers to experience successfully Horace as a lyric poet."

"A translation for the present age, the volume includes footnotes and a brief discussion of how Kaimowitz selected phrases, syllable counts, line length, and references to create brilliant 'reminiscences.'"

"Kaimowitz claims that 'translators of poetry should at least provide something approaching poetry,' and these lines [the opening of Ode II.9] and many other passages show his skill in doing just that."

2009 Outstanding Academic Title, Choice

This groundbreaking new translation of Horace’s most widely read collection of poetry is rendered in modern, metrical English verse rather than the more common free verse found in many other translations. Jeffrey H. Kaimowitz adapts the Roman poet's rich and metrically varied poetry to English formal verse, reproducing the works in a way that maintains fidelity to the tone, timbre, and style of the originals while conforming to the rules of English prosody. Each poem is true to the sense and aesthetic pleasure of the Latin and carries with it the dignity, concision, and movement characteristic of Horace’s writing.

Kaimowitz presents each translation with annotations, providing the context necessary for understanding and enjoying Horace's work. He also comments on textual instability and explains how he constructed his verse renditions to mirror Horatian Latin.

Horace and The Odes are introduced in lively fashion by noted classicist Ronnie Ancona.