Casimir Britannicus: English Translations, Paraphrases, and Emulations of the Poetry of Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski

by Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski, Krzysztof Fordoński (Editor)

Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski (1595-1640) was known in his lifetime as the Christian Horace. He was one of the most famous Neo-Latin poets of the Baroque, widely read, commented upon, and translated throughout Europe. He was nominated Poet Laureate by Pope Urban VIII. His Latin poetry was also read, translated, and imitated in England, especially from 1646 until the first half of the 19th century. The first edition of Sarbiewski's English translations, by George Hils, was published in 1646. From that time onwards, Sarbiewski was translated by a variety of poets ranging from Hils to such famous authors as Vaughan and Coleridge. His poetry was universally read in grammar schools and used as a medium of improving the knowledge of Latin during a period exceeding two centuries. Thanks to Sarbiewski, English poets started to imitate Horace, which was an important factor in overcoming the Pindaric tradition. Sarbiewski's oeuvre was also attractive owing to its immersion in various cultural traditions such as Stoicism, Ignatian spirituality, Platonism, and Hermeticism.

288 pages, Paperback

First published May 7, 2008

About the author

Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski was Europe's most prominent Latin poet of the 17th century, and a renowned theoretician of poetics.

Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski was the first Polish poet to become widely celebrated abroad, and the most popular Polish author before Henryk Sienkiewicz. He became known as Horationis par ("the peer of Horace"), "the Sarmatian Horace" and "the last Latin poet."

His European fame came from his first collection of poetry, Lyricorum libri tres (Three Books of Lyrics). An expanded edition, Lyricorum libri IV (Four Books of Lyrics), was so successful in Europe that it was released in 60 editions in different countries.

During a stay in Rome, Sarbiewski was crowned poeta laureatus (poet laureate) by Pope Urban VIII, who entrusted him with the task of revising the hymns of the breviary.

Sarbiewski was a Jesuit priest at Vilnius University and court preacher to Polish King Władysław IV Vasa.

Sarbiewski's poetry was extremely popular in Britain and was copiously translated into English. In 2008 a collected edition of English translations was published as Casimir Britannicus: English Translations, Paraphrases and Emulations of the Poetry of Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski, edited by Krzysztof Fordoński and Piotr Urbański. The collection was published again in 2010 in an expanded and corrected version.

from Wikipedia