Poems to Friends

"A fugitive handprint in a bowl of cream, a bird tangled in the grapevines of a mural, holy women who clap their voices into prayers-this is a world of unexpected beauty, and Pucci as a translator deserves our respect and praise for having clapped these poems into songs."-Joel C. Relhan, Wheaton College, Norton, MA. Owing to the rich storehouse of information it contains, the poetry of Venantius Fortunatus (c. 535-600) has long been mined as a historical source for Merovingian society, a focus that overshadows an appreciation of the poems' literary value. This volume, offering free-verse translations of Fortunatus' personal poetry, remains faithful to the historical sweep of the poet's lines while paying attention to the literary qualities that make these poems masterpieces of their kind. The volume includes an overview of late antique Gaul, Fortunatus' biography, interpretations of the poems, prosopographical introductions, maps, bibliography, and indices. Joseph Pucci is Associate Professor of Classics and in the Program in Medieval Studies and Associate Professor of comparative Literature at Brown University.