’The Gods Have Faces’: The Biblical Epigrams and Short Poems of Hildebert of Lavardin

Hildebert of Lavardin is one of the great poets of the Middle Ages, praised for his elegant style by his contemporaries and by modern scholars alike. He occupies a seminal position in the revival of learning in the late Middle Ages known as the Twelfth Century Renaissance, and his mastery of classical Latin style was so refined that some of his works were long considered products of Antiquity. This collection of Hildebert’s biblical epigrams and short poems introduces English-speaking readers to the best works of this neglected poet and places them in the context of his life and literary career. The translations attempt to bring the reader as close as possible to experiencing these poems in their original Latin while still being readable and comprehensible, facilitated by notes and commentary. Hildebert’s poetry is sometimes challenging, dense and complicated, yet his rhetoric is often beautiful, even magnificent.