Ars Amatoria
1494
- love poetry, latin
- love-letters
- poetry
- latin erotic poetry
- latin didactic poetry
- seduction
- translations into english
- translations into french
- translations into spanish
- translations into italian
The story
Originally published Manchester: Carcanet, 2003.
What it’s like
Wry, witty and quick on the page, with the bright, knowing tone of an old teacher who has seen every romantic mistake and finds them more amusing than tragic. The voice is a sly, confiding one: rhythmic couplets that tease, instruct and digress, moving from advice about where to find a lover to jokes about hairstyles, dinner parties and the small vanities of love. It is best read in short sittings, a few couplets at a time, on a slow afternoon or in a café where the page can be dipped into between sips of coffee. Its mood is playful and sensual rather than heavy, with glimpses of crowded Roman streets, theatres and baths painted in quick, vivid strokes, and a generous warmth toward human foolishness. The erotic content is frank in its suggestion and mostly cheeky rather than explicit, with brief passages of sexual innuendo and no violence. It suits readers who enjoy classical literature with a modern, conversational wit, and anyone curious about how ancient poets wrote about flirtation, rivalry and the art of being charming.
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