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Ausonius: Three Amusements
Ausonius, the most famous of the learned poets active in the second half of the fourth century, was born at Bordeaux and taught school there for 30 years before being summoned to court to teach the future emperor Gratian. He subsequently held important public offices, returning to Bordeaux and private life after Gratian's death in 383.
The subjects of many of his poems are typical of the academic world of the time. His Commemorations of the Professors of Bordeaux , a sequence of light verse obituaries of local teachers, in which people are honored—or gossiped about—in their daily occupations, has been called an illustrious poetic precedent to Edgar Lee Masters's Spoon River Anthology . To a literary verse translation of the Commemorations David Slavitt has added versions of Ausonius's Nuptial Cento , assembled from snippets of Shakespeare (Ausonius's original is a pastiche of Virgil), and selected epigrams.
The subjects of many of his poems are typical of the academic world of the time. His Commemorations of the Professors of Bordeaux , a sequence of light verse obituaries of local teachers, in which people are honored—or gossiped about—in their daily occupations, has been called an illustrious poetic precedent to Edgar Lee Masters's Spoon River Anthology . To a literary verse translation of the Commemorations David Slavitt has added versions of Ausonius's Nuptial Cento , assembled from snippets of Shakespeare (Ausonius's original is a pastiche of Virgil), and selected epigrams.
- GenresPoetry
100 pages, Paperback
First published December 27, 1998
7 people want to read
About the author
David R. Slavitt
157 books10 followersDavid Rytman Slavitt was an American writer, poet, and translator, the author of more than 100 books.
Slavitt has written a number of novels and numerous translations from Greek, Latin, and other languages. Slavitt wrote a number of popular novels under the pseudonym Henry Sutton, starting in the late 1960s. The Exhibitionist (1967) was a bestseller and sold over four million copies. He has also published popular novels under the names of David Benjamin, Lynn Meyer, and Henry Lazarus. His first work, a book of poems titled Suits for the Dead, was published in 1961. He worked as a writer and film critic for Newsweek from 1958 to 1965.
According to Henry S. Taylor, winner of the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, "David Slavitt is among the most accomplished living practitioners" of writing, "in both prose and verse; his poems give us a pleasurable, beautiful way of meditating on a bad time. We can't ask much more of literature, and usually we get far less." Novelist and poet James Dickey wrote, "Slavitt has such an easy, tolerant, believable relationship with the ancient world and its authors that making the change-over from that world to ours is less a leap than an enjoyable stroll. The reader feels a continual sense of gratitude."
Slavitt has written a number of novels and numerous translations from Greek, Latin, and other languages. Slavitt wrote a number of popular novels under the pseudonym Henry Sutton, starting in the late 1960s. The Exhibitionist (1967) was a bestseller and sold over four million copies. He has also published popular novels under the names of David Benjamin, Lynn Meyer, and Henry Lazarus. His first work, a book of poems titled Suits for the Dead, was published in 1961. He worked as a writer and film critic for Newsweek from 1958 to 1965.
According to Henry S. Taylor, winner of the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, "David Slavitt is among the most accomplished living practitioners" of writing, "in both prose and verse; his poems give us a pleasurable, beautiful way of meditating on a bad time. We can't ask much more of literature, and usually we get far less." Novelist and poet James Dickey wrote, "Slavitt has such an easy, tolerant, believable relationship with the ancient world and its authors that making the change-over from that world to ours is less a leap than an enjoyable stroll. The reader feels a continual sense of gratitude."
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 10, 2021
Commemorations is pleasing academic collegiality. Nuptial is a witty riff on the original. Epigrams adds little.
March 17, 2012
The best part which befits a rhetor are the eulogies, or more officially,
His Commemorations of the Professors of Bordeaux, which every academic in any subject should read.
Usually scratchy:
That bust of Rufinus? Him to the life! How come?
No tongue, no brain, blind, stiff, and utterly dumb...
To every aspect of him does the piece conform, or
almost. He was perhaps a little warmer.
But not always. My favorite:
Some said you'd lost it: others more
severe maintained you'd never even had it.
To hell with them, Jucundus. For
Your charm and kindness, I give you credit.
Your limitations you confessed.
You weren't the brightest but one of the best.
His Commemorations of the Professors of Bordeaux, which every academic in any subject should read.
Usually scratchy:
That bust of Rufinus? Him to the life! How come?
No tongue, no brain, blind, stiff, and utterly dumb...
To every aspect of him does the piece conform, or
almost. He was perhaps a little warmer.
But not always. My favorite:
Some said you'd lost it: others more
severe maintained you'd never even had it.
To hell with them, Jucundus. For
Your charm and kindness, I give you credit.
Your limitations you confessed.
You weren't the brightest but one of the best.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews