De Arte Poetica ta' Orazju : valutazzjoni kritika

Abstract

This work comprises an introduction and six chapters. The first chapter draws a picture of Horace's life, events and works. From here on up to the fourth chapter, the artistic aspects that a work of art should bear and the proper procedure that is to be adopted for its development, are outlined. Chapter two seeks to define a poet, poetry and a critic according to Horace's views, with an implication of the features each should possess and a reference when necessary to other thinkers and writers. Chapter three and four are very much interlinked: the former speaks about content and the latter about the format a poem should adopt according to the content it comprises. The fifth chapter is a study of the De Arte Poetica. in itself. The metaphors used by Horace in drawing home the relevant literary aspects are analysed in terms of their nature and component parts. In the final chapter Horace is studied and analysed in the light of the works of selected Maltese authors. In this chapter every subtitle is followed by a quote selected from the treatise, so that the intimate relation prevailing between the Horation tradition and the Maltese literary experience is adequately delineated.