7 oct 2003

I.5a

It appears to be an early twentieth century translation of an epigram by Martial, vaguely Poundian:

"Mentula has something like thirty acres of grazing
land, forty of plough land: the rest is salt-water."

An epigram has to "snap," and this poem lacks this quality. It appears to be making fun of Mentula for having such a high opinion of his estate: "not a man like the rest of us, but a monstruous menacing Mentula." I don't understand the enjambment of the first line when all the other lines are end-stopped. The rhythms are basically prose rhythms. C+

5b

"Tradition said he feathered his nest
Through an agricultural interest
In the Golden Age of farming... "

Gilbert and Sullivan? I really have no idea. It is doggerel, trying to force itself to be clever. D-

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