Carmen Saeculare brings to prominence Apollo, functioning as a surrogate for and patron of the princeps (Augustus), for whom a new temple on the Palatine had recently been consecrated. A marble inscription recording the ceremony and the part played by Horace still survives. The "Carmen Saeculare" is the earliest fully preserved lyric poem for which there is definite information about the circumstances of its public performance. The term "secular hymn" has recently been applied to popular music. Carmen Saeculare The Carmen Saeculare (Latin for "Secular Hymn" or "Song of the Ages") is a hymn in Sapphic meter written by the Roman poet
Thomas Watson (poet) Thomas Watson (poet) Thomas Watson (1555–1592) was an English poet and translator, and the pioneer of the English madrigal. His lyrics aside, he wrote largely in Latin, being the first to translate Sophocles' "Antigone" from the Greek. His incorporation of Italianate forms into English lyric verse influenced a generation of English writers, including Shakespeare, who was referred to in 1595 by William Covell as "Watson's heyre" [heir]. He wrote both English and Latin compositions, and was particularly admired for the ones in Latin. His unusual 18-line sonnets were influential, although the form was not generally imitated. Thomas Watson was born