Editing Hucbald (section)

===Other works===
In addition to his musical works, Hucbald also wrote literary poetry intended to be read rather than sung. Two poems in classical Latin [[hexameter]]s survive. One is the remarkable ''Ecloga de calvis'', a poem of 146 lines in praise of baldness, in which every word begins with the letter C (the first letter in the word ''calvus'', "bald").<ref>Text in [https://www.dmgh.de/mgh_poetae_4_1/#page/(261)/ Winterfeld 1899, pp. 261–271]; [https://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/02m/0840-0930,_Hucbaldus_Sancti_Amandi,_Ecloga_De_Laudibus_Calvitii,_MLT.pdf ''Patrologia Latina'' 132, cols. 1041–1045].</ref> The catalogue of illustrious bald men includes kings, generals, poets, doctors, and even the apostle Paul.{{sfn|Raby|1934|pp=249-250}} Although the poem was probably written during the reign of [[Charles the Bald]], there is no evidence to support the common assumption that it was dedicated to him, and a separate 54-line prefatory poem that precedes the work in the manuscripts explicitly dedicates it to [[Hatto I|Hatto]], the archbishop of Mainz.<ref>The assumption that Hucbald wrote the work for Charles, which was already circulating in the 11th century, was repeated by the editors of the earliest printed editions, including the 17th-century German philologist Kaspar von Barth, who added to the poem 15 spurious verses containing a direct address to the emperor in order to support his argument. Winterfeld ([https://www.dmgh.de/mgh_poetae_4_1/#page/(261)/ 1899, pp. 264, 271]) reviews the evidence and both he and Manitius ([https://archive.org/details/geschichtederlateinischenlitmani1/page/588/ 1911, pp. 588, 591]) dismiss it as a fiction. The confusion is compounded by the fact that Hucbald is known to have sent other verses to Charles, including a poem on self-control (''De sobrietate'') written by his uncle, Milo ([https://archive.org/details/geschichtederlateinischenlitmani1/page/588/ Manitius 1911, pp. 588, 590]).</ref> The ''Ecloga de calvis'' circulated widely during the Renaissance: at least six printed editions are known from the first half of the 16th century, and [[Erasmus]] in one of his dialogues recommends recitation of its alliterative lines as a cure for stuttering.{{sfn|Sheerin|1980}}

The other hexameter work, ''De diebus Aegyptiacis'', is a short astrological poem listing the days of ill omen in each month of the year.<ref>Text in [https://www.dmgh.de/mgh_poetae_4_1/#page/(272)/ Winterfeld 1899, p. 272].</ref> Hucbald also wrote a number of prose saint's lives.<ref>Texts in [https://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/30_10_0840-0930-_Hucbaldus_Sancti_Amandi.html ''Patrologia Latina'' 132].</ref>{{sfn|Manitius|1911|pp=591-592}}