Poems

Propertius Sextus

Sextus Propertius, the late Augustan poet, is best known today from Pound's famous "Homage", less translation than brilliant experiment. Patrick Worsnip's new versions rise out of the Latin and brilliantly recreate the poet's voice, his life and loves (Cynthia in particular), and his period when Rome was in full late flower. He was an elegist and a celebrator whose music rises again in these new versions.

About the Author

Sextus Propertius (c. 55-15 BC) was an elegiac poet of the Augustan age, born and raised in Umbria. Little biographical detail survives beyond what can be inferred from his poems. He published his first book of verse around 30 BC, and at least three more in his lifetime. He was in the circle of the influential patron of the arts Maecenas. A successor of Catullus and rough contemporary of Vergil, Ovid and Horace, he is perhaps best known today through Ezra Pound's experimental "homage" of 1919.

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