Ars Poetica
Poem by HoraceWikipedia
14
MENTIONS
8
EPISODES
8
PODCASTS
Search complete. 14 mentions across 8 episodes found for "Ars Poetica".
Sep 15, 2026
Maggie SmithHOST
[gentle music] I'm Maggie Smith, and this is The Slow Down.
Maggie SmithHOST
An Ars Poetica is a poem about the art of poetry itself.
Maggie SmithHOST
It offers a poet's perspective on what poetry is and how it should be written and what it might do for the reader.
Maggie SmithHOST
The term Ars Poetica comes from a poem written by Horace, an ancient Roman poet, in 19 BC.
Maggie SmithHOST
Horace's poem is 476 lines long, written in the form of a letter.
Maggie SmithHOST
In this poem, Horace advises young poets on the art of writing poetry.
Maggie SmithHOST
His writing advice includes maxims on word choice, tone, meter, and characterization in dramatic poems.
Maggie SmithHOST
He also advises poets to show restraint and to avoid over-writing.
Alex ZubinHOST
Above all, we look for stories that will stay with you.
Alex ZubinHOST
The Roman poet Horace explained in his masterful Ars Poetica that the purpose of stories, and of any literary work more broadly, is to entertain, to educate, or to do both.
Alex ZubinHOST
So we hope that Biome stories can take you to far-off worlds or let you see this world in a new light, giving you the chance to step away from the everyday.
Alex ZubinHOST
As a show that can only share a few stories each season, this also means we have to turn away a lot of stories.
David WalesNARRATOR
These two years have been devoted not so much to actual writing as to the research demanded by a task to which practically no limits can be set and to the reading of innumerable authors.
David WalesNARRATOR
Further, following the precept of Horace, who in his Art of Poetry deprecates hasty publication and urges the would-be author to withhold his work till nine long years have passed away, I propose to give them time in order that the ardor of creation might cool, and that I might revise them with all the consideration of a dispassionate reader.
David WalesNARRATOR
But if there is such a demand for their publication as you assert, why then let us spread our canvas to the gale and offer up a fervent prayer to heaven as we put out to sea.
David WalesNARRATOR
But remember, I rely on your loyal care to see that they reach the public in as correct a form as possible.
Conor HanrattyHOST
Instead, he became one of the most influential literary critics in history.
Conor HanrattyHOST
Horace's Ars Poetica, The Art of Poetry, is not really a formal treatise.
Conor HanrattyHOST
It's a piece of advice to a friend about how to write, and it was written as a letter.
Conor HanrattyHOST
As such, it's casual, it digresses sometimes, and it even contradicts itself in places.
Conor HanrattyHOST
While Seneca's plays were mostly written to be recited rather than staged, or this is at least what we believe, they survived through the Middle Ages intact and became the primary model for tragedy when European scholars rediscovered classical literature during the Renaissance.
Conor HanrattyHOST
So, how did this get to Shakespeare? The route from Horace to the Globe is circuitous, but it is traceable.
Conor HanrattyHOST
Both Horace's Ars Poetica and Seneca's Tragedies were read, taught, quoted, and turned into the bedrock of neoclassical dramatic theory in the Renaissance.
Conor HanrattyHOST
Italian commentators built elaborate systems of dramatic rules out of Horace and Aristotle, making this five-act structure a load-bearing pillar of educated drama.
Ruth GoldingNARRATOR
These two years have been devoted not so much to actual writing as to the research demanded by a task to which practically no limits can be set, and to the reading of innumerable authors.
Ruth GoldingNARRATOR
Further, following the precept of Horace, who in his Art of Poetry deprecates hasty publication and urges the would-be author to withhold his work till nine long years have passed away, I propose to give them time in order that the ardour of creation might cool, and that I might revise them with all the consideration of a dispassionate reader.
Ruth GoldingNARRATOR
But if there is such a demand for their publication as you assert, why then let us spread our canvas to the gale and offer up a fervent prayer to heaven as we put out to sea.
Ruth GoldingNARRATOR
But remember, I rely on your loyal care to see that they reach the public in as correct a form as possible.
speaker_0NARRATOR
These two years have been devoted not so much to actual writing as to the research demanded by a task to which practically no limits can be set, and to the reading of innumerable authors.
speaker_0NARRATOR
Further, following the precept of Horace, who in his Art of Poetry deprecates hasty publication and urges the would-be author to withhold his work till nine long years have passed away, I propose to give them time in order that the ardour of creation might cool, and that I might revise them with all the consideration of a dispassionate reader.
speaker_0NARRATOR
But if there is such a demand for their publication as you assert, why then let us spread our canvas to the gale and offer up a fervent prayer to Heaven as we put out to sea.
speaker_0NARRATOR
But remember, I rely on your loyal care to see that they reach the public in as correct a form as possible.
speaker_4NARRATOR
These two years have been devoted not so much to actual writing as to the research demanded by a task to which practically no limits can be set, and to the reading of innumerable authors.
speaker_4NARRATOR
Further, following the precept of Horace, who in his Art of Poetry deprecates hasty publication, and urges the would-be author to withhold his work till nine long years have passed away, I propose to give them time in order that the ardour of creation might cool, and that I might revise them with all the consideration of a dispassionate reader.
speaker_4NARRATOR
But if there is such a demand for their publication as you assert, why then let us spread our canvas to the gale, and offer up a fervent prayer to heaven as we put out to sea.
speaker_4NARRATOR
But remember, I rely on your loyal care to see that they reach the public in as correct a form as possible.
David WalesNARRATOR
These two years have been devoted not so much to actual writing as to the research demanded by a task to which practically no limits can be set, and to the reading of innumerable authors.
David WalesNARRATOR
Further, following the precept of Horace, who in his Art of Poetry deprecates hasty publication and urges the would-be author to withhold his work till nine long years have passed away, I proposed to give them time in order that the ardor of creation might cool, and that I might revise them with all the consideration of a dispassionate reader.
David WalesNARRATOR
But if there is such a demand for their publication as you assert, why then let us spread our canvas to the gale and offer up a fervent prayer to Heaven as we put out to sea.
David WalesNARRATOR
But remember, I rely on your loyal care to see that they reach the public in as correct a form as possible.