- Johannes Secundus
Johannes Secundus (also Janus Secundus) (
15 November ,1511 –25 September ,1536 ) was aRenaissance Latin poet of Dutch nationality.Early life and education
Born Jan Everaerts in
The Hague . His father, Nicolaes Everaerts was a famous jurist and friend ofErasmus .In 1528 his family moved to
Mechlin , where Secundus wrote his first book of elegies.In 1532 he went to
Bourges with his brother Marius to study law under Alciati. He obtained his "licentia ".Career
In 1533 he went to join his other brother Grudius at the Spanish court of Charles V. There he spent two years working as secretary to the Archbishop of Toledo. He returned to
Mechlin because of illness, and died atSaint-Amand in September 1536 at the age of twenty-four.Writings
Secundus was a prolific writer, and in his short life he produced several books of elegies,
epigram s,ode s, verse epistles and epithalamia, as well as some prose writings (epistles and itineraria).His most famous work, though, was the 'Liber Basiorum' ("Book of Kisses", first complete edition 1541), a short collection consisting of nineteen poems in various metres, in which the poet explores the theme of the
kiss . The 'Basia' are really extended imitations ofCatullus (in particular poems 5 and 7) and some poems from the Anthologia Graeca; Secundus situates his poetry, stylistically as well as thematically, firmly with theNeo-Catullan tradition. Variations on the central theme include: imagery of natural fertility; the 'arithmetic' of kissing; kisses as nourishment or cure; kisses that wound or bring death; and the exchange of souls through kissing. Secundus also introduces elements ofNeo-Platonism and Petrarchism into his poems.External links
* [http://www.blackcatpoems.com/s/johannes_secundus.html Poems by Johannes Secundus] English translations of the poet's work
* [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/janus.html Basia by Janus Secundus] , atThe Latin Library
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
