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 srie danalyses perspicaces de pomes spcifiques et de certains problmes de lhistoire littraire illustrant les multiples facettes de la posie mdivale et linteraction des traditions rudites, populaires et courtoises. Le premier essai, "Waltharius-Gaferos", tente de dcrire les divers traitements de lun des principaux thmes hroques europens selon des modes qui incluent: le lai et lpique, la saga et la ballade et qui stendent sur une priode allant de lpoque pr-carolingienne la Renaissance. Suivent trois articles corrlatifs sur les adaptations mdivales des textes dOvide, ainsi quun groupe dtudes voue la lecture dtaille de la posie lyrique mdivale. Aprs avoir considr loeuvre de deux des plus passionnants potes "goliards" et un certain nombre de remarquables compositions latines, sacres et profanes, datant du 9e-12e sicles, Peter Dronke se tourne vers les pre