Library: Poetry by Credo Reference: Ancient Poetry

Ancient Poems

Ave Atque Vale, by Catullus
From Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
Hail and farewell! The words of Catullus at his brother's tomb.
Multas per gentes et multa per aequora vectus
Advenio has miseras, frater, ad inferias,
Ut te postremo donarem munere mortis
Et mutam nequiquam alloquerer cinerem.
Beowulf: Topic Page
Generally agreed to be the finest example of OLD ENGLISH literature, Beowulf, a poem of 3,182 lines, survives in a single manuscript, BL Cotton Vitellius A.xv, copied approximately 1000.
Metamorphoses, by Ovid
From Bloomsbury Dictionary of Myth
Metamorphoses (‘Changes’) was a collection of myths and folk-tales made by the Roman poet Ovid some time between 2 BCE and 8 CE. Ovid took his tales from ancient classical and Middle Eastern stories about gods and mortals who underwent mysterious transformations.
Poetic Edda
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Title applied to two distinct works in Old Icelandic. The Poetic Edda, or Elder Edda, is a collection (late 13th cent.) of 34 mythological and heroic lays, most of which were composed c.800–c.1200, probably in Iceland or W Norway.
Tao Te Ching
From Chamber's Dictionary of the Unexplained
An ancient Chinese text, the authorship of which is traditionally attributed to the sage and philosopher Lao Tzu in the 6th century bc.
The Aeneid, by Virgil
From Bloomsbury Dictionary of Myth
The Aeneid ('story of Aeneas') is a Latin epic poem by Virgil. brought out after his death in 19 BCE. Its twelve sections tell of the fall of Troy, the wanderings of Aeneas and his companions in search of a new homeland,and their battles to win the area of Italy which became the site of the future Rome.
The Iliad
From The Bloomsbury Dictionary of English Literature
An epic by the ancient Greek poet Homer. Its subject is the siege of Troy by an alliance of Greek states.
The Odyssey
From The Bloomsbury Dictionary of English Literature
An epic by the ancient Greek poet Homer. The hero, Odysseus King of Ithaca, is on his way home after the Trojan war, but he is blown off course and the return journey takes him ten years.

Ancient Poets

Caedmon (7th Century)
From The Continuum Encyclopedia of British Literature
Cædmon is widely regarded as the first English poet, and “Cædmon’s Hymn” or the “Hymn of Creation” is the earliest surviving example of Anglo-Saxon vernacular verse. Most of what is known of Cædmon comes from the religious historian BEDE, in his Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum.
Catullus (BCE 1st Century): Topic Page
Roman poet, b. Verona. Of a well-to-do family, he went c.62 B.C. to Rome. He fell deeply in love, probably with Clodia, sister of Cicero's opponent Publius Clodius.
Egil Skallagrimsson (10th Century)
From Chamber's Biographical Dictionary
He was born on the farm of Borg in Iceland. His father had emigrated to Iceland from Norway, and Egil became a Viking warrior and court poet.
Hesiod (BCE 8th Century): Topic Page
Greek poet. He is thought to have lived later than Homer, but there is no absolute certainty about the dates of his life. Hesiod portrays himself as a Boeotian farmer.
Homer (BCE 8th Century): Topic Page
Principal figure of ancient Greek literature; the first European poet. Two epic poems are attributed to Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey.
Kalidasa (5th Century)
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Indian dramatist and poet. He is regarded as the greatest figure in classical Sanskrit literature. Except that he was retained by the Gupta court, no facts concerning his life are known. His three surviving plays are Sakuntala (or Shakuntala), Vikramorvasi, and Malavikagnimitra.
Li Po (c. 700 - 762): Topic Page
Chinese poet of the T'ang dynasty. He was born in what is now Sichuan prov. Most authorities believe that he was a Taoist; Li Po's unconcern for worldly preferment and his love for retirement was expressive of both Taoism and the delicate romanticism found in his poetry.
Ovid (BCE 43 - CE 18): Topic Page
Latin poet. Although trained for the law, he preferred the company of the literary coterie at Rome. He enjoyed early and widespread fame as a poet and was known to the emperor Augustus.
Sappho (BCE 6th Century)
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Greatest of the early Greek lyric poets (Plato calls her "the tenth Muse" ), b. Mytilene on Lesbos. Facts about her life are scant. She was an aristocrat, who wrote poetry for her circle of friends, mostly but not exclusively women.
Virgil (BCE 1st Century)
From Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
The greatest poet of ancient Rome, Publius Virgilius Maro (70–19 bc), born near Mantua (hence called the Mantuan Swan), a master of epic, didactic and idyllic poetry.
Wang Wei (701 - 761)
Chinese poet, painter, and musician during the Tang dynasty and close associate of masters in the early Chan school.