Latin and Vernacular Poets of the Middle Ages

This volume presents a series of penetrating analyses of particular poems and problems of literary history illustrating the many sides of medieval poetry and the interactions of learned, popular and courtly traditions. The first and longest essay, 'Waltharius-Gaiferos', aims to characterize the diverse treatments of one of the major European heroic themes - in modes that include lay and epic, saga and ballad, and range from pre-Carolingian times to the Renaissance. There follow three interrelated essays on the medieval transformations of Ovid, and a larger group devoted to close reading of medieval lyrics. After discussing some brilliant Latin compositions, of the 9th-12th centuries, both sacred and profane, and the work of two of the most captivating 'goliard' poets, Peter Dronke looks at the earliest formations of love-lyric in two vernaculars, Spanish and English. Finally, he explores the unique symbiosis of Latin and vernacular imagery in two key moments of Dante's Divine Comedy. Ce volume contient une serie d'analyses perspicaces de poemes specifiques et de certains problemes de l'histoire litteraire illustrant les multiples facettes de la poesie medievale et l'interaction des traditions erudites, populaires et courtoises. Le premier essai, 'Waltharius-GaA feros', tente de decrire les divers traitements de l'un des principaux themes heroA ques europeens selon des modes qui incluent: le lai et l'epique, la saga et la ballade et qui s'etendent sur une periode allant de l'epoque pre-carolingienne A la Renaissance. Suivent trois articles correlatifs sur les adaptations medievales des textes d'Ovide, ainsi qu'un groupe d'etudes voue A la lecture detaillee de la poesie lyrique medievale. Apres avoir considere l'oeuvre de deux des plus passionnants poetes 'goliards' et un certain nombre de remarquables compositions latines, sacrees et profanes, datant du 9e-12e siecles, Peter Dronke se tourne vers les pre