The Gnat and Other Minor Poems of Virgil

"David Slavitt is the most fluent and imaginative translator of Latin verse working today, and this collection of Virgilian poems testifies to his skill, sensitivity, and wit. Slavitt brings to this odd and little-known body of verse a real voice. Whether or not the poems are Virgil's is, in the end, less important than the fact that, by the end of this book, these poems have become truly Slavitt's."

—Seth Lerer, Dean of Arts and Humanities at the University of California at San Diego

"Slavitt has an established, unique, and appealing voice. He does an excellent job catching the tone and style of the originals, and these are readable and entertaining interpretations of the Latin."

—Daniel Berman, author of Myth and Culture in Aeschylus' Seven Against Thebes

“Light-hearted poems, some obscene, some studies in vitriol, a miniature epic about a gnat, a recipe for a salad that gave the United States its motto, e pluribus unum—these are poems that have come down to us under the name of great Virgil. David Slavitt’s free versions bring them to life, capturing their wit and flair. They are a joy to read, not least for revealing a cheerier side of ancient Rome.”

—David Konstan, author of The Emotions of the Ancient Greeks: Studies in Aristotle and Classical Literature