The following poems were written by the AP Latin class and their teacher, Mrs. Birch, in conjunction with their study of Vergil’s Aeneid, which they are translating in class. The poems each incorporate one or more literary devices, such as alliteration, polysyndeton, asyndeton, anaphora, metaphor, and personification, all of which are used throughout the Latin text.

The Jog by Jeanne Birch

I was cloudy and hot — much like the weather,

and I decided to go for a jog.

The sky began mourning,

dropping its tears upon the Earth; the trees are my umbrella.

As I run beyond the cover of the canopy of trees,

the rain falls softly upon my face,

mellowing my melancholy mode.

My stride becomes longer and stronger as I go,

enjoying the sound of the turtles and frogs jumping into the pond

when they hear my plodding pace on the path.

I tell myself to lift up my knees,

as I give a nod to the elderly walking their dogs,

and the rain mixes with my sweat,

cleaning off the dirt, and the dark and the dire.

I end my jog where I began,

Alpha leads to Alpha,

But now I am cool and clear — much like the weather.

The Introvert by Jonathan Smith

He kept to himself mostly, like a turtle almost

He was quiet, he was reticent, he was pensive

No one knew who he was, or where he was from

No one ever asked

When they did bother to waste his precious time,

There would be no answer

Heck, we didn’t even think he could talk.

When he did, for the first time

There were mixed emotions

It was weird, wild and wonderful

He scared me and a couple of other kids

He held his usual stiff, silent style of sitting

We all began to whisper to each other

He had a smug look on his face

It said “I’ve said all that I’ve ever needed to say”

That sort of thing,

I don’t even think he knew what he said, he didn’t care

Afterwards, he got up, walked away, and never looked back

Untitled by Alan Perrotti

Sweat glistened on my brow

The clock read 10:29

The sun beat down its harsh rays

The shrill call of the whistle forced my tired legs into action

Along the field everyone jumped into action

Sweat ran down into my eyes

The clock read 8:44

A sea of red jump, up, down, back and forth

But all that was in my mind was the clock ticking down

And the ball the players were so intent on putting into the goal

I wiped the sweat out of my eyes

The clock read 2:09

And then the gentle swoosh of the ball hitting the back of the net was heard throughout the field

I could now hear a dull roar from the sea of red

There were now more than just 22 on the field

Some deflated, others lifted

And the sweat was gone

The clock read 0:00

Marring Meaning by Julia Randall

strange it seems,

to take delight

in ripping,

Marring

the page on which my pen

rests, scratches

ink into a milky, blank expanse,

filling it with

Meaning

and holes.

Untitled by Anonymous

Top of the leaderboard here we stand

All of us lending a helping hand

Dressed in red and black and white

Our team is prepared for any fight

Whether acts of valor or of strength

Our performance is willing to last the whole length

80 minutes to get the job done

Time after time we score on the run

Our team’s success keeps the fans overjoyed

Because bottom of the leaderboard is where we avoid

Untitled by Anonymous

It’s dark where I am,

And I cannot find the light.

There are shadows all around me,

And my heart is full of fright.

Everyone is so peaceful,

They never even see.

That storm clouds are forming,

Upon the peaceful sea.

I cannot see the future,

and I cannot change the past.

But the present is so heavy,

I don’t think I’m going to last.

Untitled by Mary Bischoff

As I stood on a cliff,

The waves below flow,

Like the stream that flows into it.

The people of the coast,

Bow to you, the Mighty Sea,

You who can give life, then take it,

As quickly as it was given.

As we not anger you,

you slumber peacefully.

The waves your snores, and the sea creatures your heart.

Your touch has changed.

The fisherman gives you praises,

As you let us have your heart,

So we can feel calm.

Serene.