Erotica Romana

About this book

Erotica Romana is a lyrical meditation that blends poetic reverie with mythic allusion, presented as a series of numbered sections that trace a speaker’s wanderings through Rome’s ruins, temples, and gardens. The opening verses plant a garden of love’s blossoms, invoking Priapus and Cupid as companions in a landscape where “golden fruit” of desire is freely plucked. From there the poet moves through marble palazzos, modest chambers, and sacred hills, juxtaposing the grandeur of ancient deities with intimate encounters that range from the sensual to the philosophical. The text is less a narrative than a continuous, almost improvisational, celebration of erotic and artistic inspiration, punctuated by references to classical figures such as Venus, Jupiter, and the tragic lovers of antiquity.

The voice is unmistakably Goetheian, employing a baroque‑rich diction that mingles classical Latin references with Germanic lyricism, all filtered through an English translation that preserves the original’s rhythmic vigor. Its style is ornate, with frequent apostrophes, cataloguing of gods, and a seamless flow between lofty myth and earthy desire. Readers who enjoy poetry that fuses classical mythology with sensual contemplation, particularly those appreciative of 18th‑century Romantic sensibilities and Goethe’s exuberant, sometimes playful, command of language, will find this work a rewarding, if unconventional, immersion in the poet’s Roman dreamscape.