The Art of Poetry
by Horace
- Reading level
- Fairly demanding
- Price
- Free
About the book
"The Art of Poetry: an Epistle to the Pisos" by Horace is a poem written around 19 BC. Addressed to a Roman senator and his sons, this influential work offers practical advice on writing poetry and drama. Horace covers unity, style, character development, and meter, treating poetry as a craft rather than theory. His timeless maxims include warnings against flowery language and contrived plot devices, plus famous phrases like "in medias res" that remain cornerstones of literary discussion today.
- Aesthetics
- Didactic poetry, Latin
- Epistolary poetry, Latin
- Criticism
- Poetics
Updated September 2026. Public domain in the USA. Text and summary from Project Gutenberg eBook #9175. The Art of Poetry on Wikipedia.
