RJM Lindsay ("Bertie")
Bertie Lindsay was head of the classics department for many years. He died in 1988. He attracted much acclaim both for his versions of Horace and Catullus in English verse and his translations of modern hymns, carols, nursery rhymes and songs into Latin.
Below is his version of Horace, Odes 3. 30.
Mine is a monument outlasting brass,
Higher than Pyramids imperial site,
Which neither gnawing rain nor wild North Wind
Nor countless sweep of years, nor seasons' flight
May ruin: for I shall not wholly pass,
But a great part of me shall flee Death's call.
Followed by praise I'll grow, as long as priest
And silent maid ascend Rome's Capitol.
Men shall yet name me where fierce Aufidus
Roars, and where Daunus ruled his dry domains
And rustic folk - once humble, now renowned,
The first to set Aeolian verse to strains
Of Italy. And now assume the pride
Earned by my merits, O Melpomene,
And willingly, great Muse, be pleased to crown
My forehead with a wreath of Delphic bay.
Arch of Constantine