Latin Verse Challenges

This book is a compilation of original poems (almost all in English) with their translations by Colin Sydenham into diverse Latin metres. In presenting the Latin translations, it challenges the reader to identify the original poems and appreciate the art of adapting the original to the Latin forms. No school in Britain still teaches verse composition as part of its core curriculum, nor is it a compulsory exercise at any university in the world. But pockets of enthusiasts keenly keep the flame burning at Oxford, Cambridge, far-flung schools, and wide across the internet community. To all younger generations of versifiers, it will be a splendid spur to see these recently hewn verses united and polished up to their full splendour. I hope that each new reader will share the joy that I and a few others have had of diving into Colins poems, swimming about their shallows, and returning, refreshed, back to shore. Perhaps they will emerge with something English also in hand, perhaps not; either way, they are certain to find real and lasting pleasure in poems that have a charm and sparkle all of their own. David Butterfield Fellow and Director of Studies in Classics, Queens' College, Cambridge Colin Sydenham practised as a property lawyer in London for nearly forty years. He was secretary of the Horatian Society for twenty-one years and later its Chairman See more