Weblogs: Rusticatio Mexicana

Безѹмниѥ: "Usually I’m not too enthusiastic about Neo-Latin, but I thought this was simply too cool. I picked up a copy of the Duckworth/Bristol Classical Press 2005 Academic Catalog, and they announce Andrew Laird’s new work The Epic of America: An Introduction to Rafael Landívar and the Rusticatio Mexicana. The Rusticatio Mexicano is a 1782 description in 15 books of the flora, fauna, landscape, and folk traditions of Guatemala and Mexico, written entirely in Latin. The work blends classical poetic traditions with political commentary in the colonialist world of 18th century Central America.

Landîvar’s work seems to be of awesome proportions, and apparently it gained some respect, as Duckworth calls him “the American Virgil”. How odd that I never heard of it before. Here is an except (found at a short Spanish-language biography):

Salue, cara Parens, dulcis Guatimala, Salue,
delicium uitae, fons, et origo meae:
quam iuuat, Alma, tuas animo peruoluere dotes,
temperiem, fontes, compita, templa, lares.
Iam mihi frondosos uideor discernere montes,
ac iugi uirides munere ueris agros.
Saepius in mentem subeunt labentia circum
flumina, et umbrosis litora tecta comis:
tum uario cultu penetralia compta domorum,
plurimaque Idaliis picta uireta rosis.
Quid uero, aurato repeto si splendida luxu
Serica, uel Tyrio uellera tincta mari?
Haec mihi semper erunt patrii nutrimen amoris,
inque artis rebus dulce leuamen erunt."