The poems of St. Peter Damian employ language common in early and medieval Christianity. To us it can appear overblown with too much use of exaggerated similes, especially those related to the body. At times it is even gory. Classical Latin poetry differs from English poetry. It is less reliant on rhyme and more on syllable length. Many of Peter Damian’s poems, when read in Latin, sound very much like English poems with regular rhymes and definite beats. A full examination of the technical aspects of his poetry and how they relate to classical and modern forms is beyond my expertise.
The Latin text for these translations is from: Opere di Pier Damiani: Poesie e Preghiere, M. Lokrantz and U. Facchini, eds., Città Nuova 2007. I have correlated this with Lokrantz’s 1964 publication of her Ph.D. dissertation (L’Opera Poetica di S. Pier Damiani by Margareta Lokrantz in Acta Universitatis Stockholmiensis, Studia Latina Stockholmiensia, XII, Almquist and Wiksells, 1964) and with other sources. My work in this area continues and I will revise pages as I make progress. My own literal translation is in blue. In time I hope to create more poetic translations.
I have put the numbers used by Lokrantz and Facchini 2007 for each piece in parentheses at the end of the Latin title. This is not a translation of that volume. I have translated only those pieces printed in verse. I have studied Latin since 2018 with the goal of doing these translations. I have been guided in my studies by Richard LaFleur, Emeritus Chair of the Classics Department at the University of Georgia. For many years he has been the editor of the textbook I used in my Latin course at the University of Chicago in 1964 – 1965, Wheelock’s Latin). For ‘medieval’ or ‘late’ Latin I have been working with Donka D. Markus, PhD, Gerda K. Seligson Collegiate Lecturer and Teaching Professor, Department of Classical Studies at the University of Michigan. The translations would not have been possible, and certainly would have been much less accurate, without their continuing interest and enthusiasm. Certainly no errors here should be attributed to them.
There will be exceptions. At least one poem in the Patrologia Latina (Rhythmus de eadem sanctissima Virgine) seemed too important not to include, although it is not included by Lokrantz and Fachchini, even in the section on ‘dubious writings.’
