Interpretation of Neo-Latin poetry: some questions

Abstract

One of the fascinations of studying Neo-Latin literature lies in the discrepancy between the extremely high status such compositions had in their own time and the no less extremely low status they have had in modern times, even to the point of almost totally disappearing from handbooks of literary history. The change is a result of Romanticism, and mainly of two of its aspects: the respect for originality and respect for the vernacular. The next is mainly concerned with the question of originality. Modern editors of Neo-Latin works diligently collect parallels from ancient models as well as from the poets' more immediate predecessors. A notorious case in point is the Norwegian poet Halvard Gunnarssen, whose poetical version of Chronicon Carionis, used to be considered one of the crown jewels in the nation's Neo-Latin poetry. Another example is found in Peter Sjokvist's edition of the early poetry of Swedish Sylvester Phrygius. Keywords:compositions; Interpretation; Neo-Latin poetry; poem