John Polwhele’s Horatian Translations

Gillespie, S. (2021) John Polwhele’s Horatian Translations. Translation and Literature, 30(1), pp. 52-71. (doi: 10.3366/tal.2021.0445)

Abstract

The poems and translations of John Polwhele (c.1606–1672) are preserved in a single autograph manuscript, Bodleian MS English poetry f. 16. Some have received intermittent scholarly attention in recent times, often on account of Polwhele's admiration for and emulation of Ben Jonson. As well as other classical translations, Polwhele's manuscript includes eleven poems and passages from Horace, nearly all of them versions of odes and epodes. A handful have been printed or partially printed before. The purpose of this contribution is to provide transcribed texts of the complete set in a uniform way in a single document. As well as the Jonsonian connections of Polwhele's Horatian writings, they are of scholarly interest because they use Horace as a vehicle for comment on the translator's own times, including events of the English civil war period such as the regicide of 1649.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Gillespie, Dr Stuart
• Authors: Gillespie, S.
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Critical Studies > English Literature
• Journal Name: Translation and Literature
• Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
• ISSN: 0968-1361
• ISSN (Online): 1750-0214
• Published Online: 15 February 2021
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 Edinburgh University Press
• First Published: First published in Translation and Literature 30(1): 52-71
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher