Departmental homepageProfessor Boyde feels deeply indebted to St John's College, where he has studied, taught and researched for more than 70 years. The College provided a unique environment to him as an undergraduate, encouraging him to drop French and begin the study of Italian. It supported him during his research years (PhD, 1963), elected him to a teaching Fellowship in 1966, and to a professorial Fellowship in 1982. On his retirement from the University Chair, he took on a new College role as Graduate Liaison Officer, through which he continues to give back to the social and intellectual life of the College while developing an ambitious educational programme.
boydesclassicdramas.org is a rich archive of materials connected with 30 semi-staged productions of verse dramas, all performed in the original language over a period of 20 years. It takes the form of 'performance packs' containing videos, PPTs, texts, surtitles, essays and notes which will inspire any university department 'to go and do likewise', either by performing one of the chosen plays or imitating the aims and methodology.
Professor Boyde's major publications are devoted to Dante's style, thought and poetry (always in the context of the poet's time and culture). He is well regarded in Italy (he is a 'socio straniero' of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei and the Accademia della Crusca). His many courses of Open Lectures on Italian Narrative Art (1982-2000) were immensely popular (and await publication in electronic form). He has written rigorous essays on Lucretius, Montaigne and Rilke. Apart from his research as an Italianist, he is proud of the way the College enables him to support the study of Modern and Medieval Languages in the plural – bringing poetic dramas to life by inspiring students to perform them in English, French, German, Greek, (Ancient and Biblical) Hebrew, Latin and Polish.
Dante's Lyric Poetry, 2 vols., Oxford, 1967 (with Kenelm Foster)
Dante's Style in his Lyric Poetry, Cambridge, 1971
Dante Philomythes and Philosopher: Man in the Cosmos, Cambridge, 1981
Human Vices and Human Worth in Dante’s ‘Comedy’, Cambridge, 2000
