Book Review: William Fitzgerald, How to Read a Latin Poem: If You Can't Read Latin Yet, 2013.

Those who read Vergilius' Aeneid, one of the most brilliant works of Latin poetry, may be a little disappointed and think: "Is this the Aeneid that was praised to the skies?". They may read Catullus or Ovidius and dislike them, or even find them weak. I think the reason for this is the structural differences between modern poetry and Latin poetry. Whereas modern poetry tends to break free of patterns and to convey feelings and thoughts freely, Latin poetry follows very strict rules. There is no rhyme, it is even considered ugly, but all the words in a line follow a measure called meter. Although different meters are used for different types of poetry, the hexameter is the most common. Take the first line of the Aeneid, for example:

Arma virumque canō, Trōiae quī prīmus ab ōrīs

Syllables ending in a consonant or a long vowel (with a dash) are considered long syllables, while those ending in short vowels are considered short syllables. One long syllable is equal to two short ones in duration. The Dactylic Hexameter consists of 6 parts (metrons) of these long and short syllables. The first four parts must contain either two long syllables in a row or one long and two short syllables. The fifth part must always contain one long and two short syllables, and the sixth part must contain two long syllables. Analyzing the line above (three dash is long, one is short syllable):

---    -   -   /  ---     -    -     /   ---   ---     /  ---    ---     / ---    -     -       /   ---   ---

Ar ma vi / rum que ca     / nō   Tro /   iae   quī    /   pri   mu sa   /    (b)ō  ris

As can be seen, we can say that Latin poetry, in its simplest form, is the art of conveying feelings and thoughts by placing words in a line in accordance with strict rules. What makes a Latin poet great is that poet adjusts the pace of the poem with long and short syllables according to the emotion wanted to convey while doing this word placement work, decorates his poem with puns, alliterations, double meanings and word sequences, and almost paints with words. Therefore, contrary to the image of the modern poet who is inspired in an instant and gives his/her work, the Roman poet, like a sculptor, painter or musician, creates his work over a long period of time. Vergilius, one of the extreme example, wrote the Aeneid in eleven years. 

I would like to give an another example from Ovidius that I like very much about the art of painting with words. Here the poet describes the peasants who were cursed by the goddess and turned into frogs:

quamvis sint sub aquā, sub aquā maledīcere temptant 

(Even though they are underwater, they try to curse from underwater).

With meter:

  ---    ---      / ---   -   -     / ---    -    -         /  ---    -     -    / ---   -    - /   ---   ---

Quam vis / sint su ba / quā    su    ba /    quā   ma le / dī   ce   re / temp tant

Read it aloud. Did you heard of frogs trying to curse (qua qua qua)? Quaxare is the Latin word for croaking. 

In translating Latin poems, it is almost impossible to convey these rhetorical arts used by poets beyond feelings and thoughts. Prof. William Fitzgerald, a highly respected Classicist and translator, has written his book to introduce the general reader to these beautiful aspects of Latin poetry that are lost in translations. However, "If You Can't Read Latin Yet" may be a bit pretentious. Because even though he wrote his book in a fun and readable language, Fitzgerald did not compromise on scientific analysis. He analyzes small excerpts from the masterpieces of Roman poets such as Vergilius, Ovidius, Horatius and Lucretius, explaining why these poems have been read for millennia and why each line has been analyzed over and over again with examples similar to the ones I mentioned above. He has subtly revealed the wordplay in the verses, how the meter is skillfully used to control the rhythm of the poem, how, thanks to the flexible syntax of Latin, symmetrical and asymmetrical constructions and delayed words are used to convey emotions and thoughts in a striking way, and how words are deliberately left ambiguous or convey two meanings. When you read the book, it is as if you have taken a one-semester Latin poetry course from Prof. Fitzgerald at King's College. It is definitely a book not to be missed, especially for those who have studied Latin for a year and are about to move on to Latin poetry. With this book, your enjoyment of Latin poetry will increase many times over and it will be easier for you to make sense of the Latin poetry.