Urban VIII and Alexander VII each occupied the papal throne during the seventeenth century, and were munificent and discriminating patrons of the arts, as well as men of conspicuous erudition and imagination. They were also sensitive, inspired, and highly accomplished poets. The cultural milieu from which they sprang was a halcyon era in which literature and the arts flourished with all the apollonian refulgence of a splendid, and sometimes extravagant, opulence. The present work of adaptation by New Norcia’s Fr. Robert Nixon, employing strictly the medium of English heroic verse, comprises a choice cornucopia of the lyrical musings of these two baroque pontiffs.

Endorsements & Reviews

“A wonderful achievement. The Latin poetry of Baroque popes has never been so readable. Nixon’s heroic couplets and lexical pyrotechnics bring this verse, on topics high and low, within easy reach. Here is translation as creation, at a high level, and what delights it offers.”
—John J. Kinder, University of Western Australia

“Maffeo Barberini (1568–1644) and Fabio Chigi (1599–1667), Popes Urban VIII and Alexander VII respectively, embracing everything from a humorous poem on the gift of a cat to devout meditations on the Lord’s Passion, then let translator Dom Robert, a true master of English prosody of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, be your very able impresario.”
—Anna Silvas, University of New England, Australia

“Walking in the footsteps of his Benedictine forebears, Dom Robert Nixon has rendered an immense service to classical education. These exceptional translations of two great popes both convey the meditative aura of the originals and incite to return to them. May they help rediscovery of Latin as part of a living tradition—vehicle of history, culture, and faith—especially through its use in the liturgy.”
—Pius Mary Noonan, OSB, Notre Dame Priory, Tasmania

Contributors

Pope Urban VIII (Author)
Pope Alexander VII (Author)
Fr. Robert Nixon, osb (Translator)

 
Format

- Paperback, 68 pages
- Dimensions 15.1 x 22.9cm
- Publication date 18 June 2020