Using Authentic Latin Poetry in Lower Level
Language Classes

by Mary English, Montclair State University
Original Text © 2002 Mary English. All rights reserved

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TECHNIQUE #9: STUDENTS CAN BENEFIT IMMENSELY FROM READING GOOD ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS OF LATIN POEMS. ALWAYS SHOW THEM THE ORIGINAL AND HELP THEM FIND THE PHRASES AND VOCABULARY WORDS THAT THEY CAN EASILY IDENTIFY.

I suggest the following titles for students unfamiliar with Latin literature. Both David Ferry and Ted Hughes are themselves excellent poets. Perhaps the members of our English departments could be persuaded to incorporate these translations into some aspect of their curriculum so that students can discuss what they are studying in Latin class with their larger educational communities.

David Ferry (trans.). The Odes of Horace. Noonday Press, 1998.

David Ferry (trans.). Eclogues of Vergil. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2000.

Ted Hughes. Tales from Ovid. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1999.

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