Lays of Ancient Rome is a collection of narrative poems, or lays, by Thomas Babington Macaulay. Four of them tell heroic tales from early Roman history with powerful dramatic and tragic themes, giving the collection of his name. Macaulay also incorporates two poems inspired by recent history: Ivry (1824) and The Fleet (1832).
Video Lays of Ancient Rome
Ikhtisar
The Lays was composed by Macaulay in his thirties, during his spare time while he was a "member of the law" from the Governor-General of the Supreme Council of India from 1834 to 1838. He then wrote about them:
The plan occurred to me in the woods in the foothills of Neilgherry; and most of those verses were made during a grim stopover in Ootacamund and an unpleasant journey in the Bay of Bengal.
The Roman ballad was preceded by a brief introduction, discussing the legend from a scientific point of view. Macaulay explains that his intention is to write poems that resemble poetry that may have been sung in ancient times.
The Lays was first published by Longman in 1842, at the beginning of the Victorian Era. They became very popular, and became the subject of regular recitation, then became a common pastime. The Lays is a standard reading in British public schools for more than a century. Winston Churchill memorized it when he was at Harrow School, to show that he was able to have a mental miracle, despite his lackluster academic performance.
Maps Lays of Ancient Rome
The poems
Horatius
The first poem, Horatius , describes how Publius Horatius and his two companions, Spurius Lartius and Titus Herminius, deployed Sublicia's bridge against the Etruscans, Lars Porsena, King Clusium. The three heroes were willing to die to prevent the enemy from crossing the bridge, and sacking an unassailed Rome. While the trio was close to the Etruscans front row, the Romans hurriedly worked to destroy the bridge, leaving their enemies on the wrong side of the swollen Tiber.
This poem contains often quoted lines:
Lartius and Herminius regained the Roman side before the bridge collapsed, but Horatius was stranded, and jumping into the river was still wearing his full armor. Macaulay writes,
He reached the Roman coast, was rewarded, and his courageous actions gave him mythic status:
Battle of the Regillus Lake
This poem celebrates the Roman victory over the Latin League, at the Battle of Lake Regillus. A few years after the withdrawal of Porsena, Rome was threatened by a Latin army led by the ousted Roman king, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, along with his son, Titus Tarquinius, and his son-in-law, Octavius ​​Mamilius, the prince of Tusculum. The battle described by Macaulay is very fierce and bloody, and the result is only determined when the twin god Castor and Pollux descend to the battlefield on the side of Rome.
This poem includes a number of single battles described subtly, in the conscious imitation of Homer Iliad .
Virginia
This poem describes the tragedy of Virginia, the only daughter of Virginius, a poor Roman peasant. The evil Appius Claudius, a member of one of the noblest Roman noble families, and the head of the college of decemvirs, wanted a beautiful and virtuous Virginia. He initiated the legal process, claiming Virginia as his "runaway slave", knowing that his claim would be supported by corrupt magistrations in which he and his cronies preside. Encouraged by despair, Virginius decides to save his daughter from Claudius's lust in any way - even his death is better.
Virginia's sacrifice raised the villagers to action: their violent outburst led to the overthrow of the decemvirs, and the establishment of the tribune offices of the plebs, to protect the escapees' interests from the offense by the aristocratic aristocracy.
The Prophecy of Capys
When Romulus and Remus arrived with victory in their grandfather's house, Capys, the blind old man entered the prophetic transit. He predicted the future power of Romulus's descendants, and their last victory over their enemies in the Pyhrric and Punic war.
Ivry, A Song of the Huguenots
Originally created in 1824, Ivry celebrated the battle won by Henry IV of France and his Huguenot troops over the Catholic League in 1590. Henry's succession to the French throne was opposed by those who would not accept the Protestant king. from France; His victory in Ivry against the superior forces made him the only credible prosecutor for the crown, although he could not overcome all opposition until converting to Catholicism in 1593. Henry went on to issue the Edict of Nantes in 1598, granting tolerance to French Protestantism. , and end the French Religious War.
Fleet: A Fragment
Written in 1832, this poem describes the arrival in Plymouth in 1588 on the appearance of the Spanish Armada, and the illumination of the beacon to send news to London and throughout England,
The fleet was sent by Philip II of Spain with the intention of delivering the invading forces to England, and deposing the protestant Queen Elizabeth. The supposedly invincible fleet was thwarted by a combination of vigilance, tactics that took advantage of size and lack of maneuverability of the Fleet and its ships, and a host of other misfortunes.
In popular culture
Lays of Ancient Rome has been reprinted on numerous occasions, and now in the public domain. The 1881 edition, illustrated very extravagantly by John Reinhard Weguelin, is often republished. Countless schoolchildren have found employment as a means to introduce them to the history, poetry, and moral values ​​of courage, self-sacrifice, and patriotism emphasized in the Macaulay texts.
The phrase "how can a man die better," from Horatius, used by Benjamin Pogrund as the biographical title of anti-apartheid activist Robert Sobukwe. The same part of the poem was read in an episode of Doctor Who , used as a plot tool in science fiction film 2013 Oblivion , and appeared in Kevin J Anderson's last book < The Saga of Seven Suns . Paragraphs 32 and 50 of Horatius are used as epigraphs in Diane Duane's novel My Enemy, My Ally and i>
These words were on the tombstone on the anniversary of the Chushul war in Rezang La to commemorate the 13th Battalion, the Kumaon Regiment of the Indian Army.
Sir Winston Churchill memorized poetry of Horatius in his childhood, and used it to urge the cabinet to stand and fight the most difficult World War II, when England faced the threat of an invasion by Germany. This scene is portrayed in the film Into The Storm , with Brendan Gleeson as Churchill; slightly different versions appearing on Darkest Hour , with Gary Oldman describing Churchill.
References
External links
- full text on archive.org
- full text in Poets' Corner
- full text (illustrated by George Scharf) at hathitrust.org
- The Lays of Ancient Rome public domain audiobook on LibriVox
- The German edition (in English) is digitized by Google Books
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments