Nice photo! That same address was a Willard Hotel back in 1913. Pancho Villa stayed there, in February of that year, not long after his escape from prison in Mexico.

Of course, just weeks ago he hailed the re-establishment of deterrence with Iran. And—long memory—I still remember a column from years ago where he called Obama “indolent.” Yes, it’s a big word, but I think we all understand what you’re saying, George.

(10/x) The scene: Hera is trying to convince Aphrodite to persuade her son Eros to make Medea fall in love with Jason so that he can fulfill his task of getting the Golden Fleece and bringing it back to his evil uncle, Pelias.

#classics #poetry

(9/x) But if you’re trying to be faithful to an original text, good luck, my friend. So here it is. Some lines are not so hot, others are okay.

#classics #poetry

(8/x) But as it turns out, that’s really hard. It’s one thing if you’re just letting your muse take you wherever. If you can’t think of a three-syllable dactyl to use with trees, write about blueberries instead. Who’s the wiser.

#classics #poetry

(7/x) While I am reasonably facile in iambic doggerel, iambic pentameter blank verse à la Milton seems frankly a bit tired here in the third millennium. Why not translate it into dactylic hexameters, I asked myself. Wired!

#classics #poetry

(6/x) I came across a passage I really liked and wondered if I could translate it in a way that retained some force of the original. I don’t translate much from Greek, as there are people out there who really know their stuff and I don’t want to embarrass myself.

#classics #poetry

(5/x) Swinburne, however, would on occasion begin the line with extrametrical syllables or end it on a single stressed syllable. Anyway, I have been reading the Argonautica by Apollonius Rhodes, the story of the Golden Fleece. It is written in Greek, in dactylic hexameter.

#classics #poetry

(4/x) which preserve the falling rhythm without driving the poet insane. Longfellow even managed in most cases to observe the same caesura favored by the Greeks and Romans, as well as to end the line with the obligatory two-syllable foot.

#classics #poetry

(3/x) Someone who in my opinion actually did very well with dactylic verse was Longfellow, who wrote two lengthy poems using it. Both poets made metrical accommodations, Longfellow more successfully, I think. He, more than Swinburne, often substituted dactyls with trochees,

#classics #poetry

(2/x) despite the fact that Swinburne, known for his metrical experimentation, reportedly disliked hexameters in English. Understandably. It is a falling rhythm which is unnatural to English, which naturally favors a rising iambic line.

#poetry #classics

(1/x) There is a poem by Swinburne the first line of which is, “Out of the golden remote wild west where the sea without shore is…” He was adapting to English the dactylic hexameter, the meter of Greek and Latin epic verse. I think that particular line is beautiful,

#poetry #classics

“Gimme whisky when I get a little frisky
’Cause it’s-a mighty good drink when you get a little dry.”

Yup. Riding a horse in the rain used to be the leading cause of death among men.

We should avoid the temptation to blame eagles for the current state of affairs.

I think more people would like posts if they weren’t billed $50 for each like. At least I think that’s what must be going on, because some of you can be pretty parsimonious.

Not sure buffet would be any better.

I’m sure some of you will say, “This is nonsense. I was at the temple of Mars just the other day. They just couldn’t find the head. Big nothing-burger. It’s fine.”

But is it? Is it really? (3/x)

A flock of sheep in Apulia were all killed by a single bolt of lightning;

In the temple of Juno when the doors were closed for two days the voice of an infant was heard inside;

In the temple of Mars a wooden statue of the god was discovered without a head. (2/x)

I know that many people are feeling uncertainty about the future because of the war with Iran. People wonder should they buy an EV, are mortgage rates going to rise, what does this mean for investments in the UAE. It’s hard to predict, but these are some recent indicators : (1/x)

As we know from Zeno’s paradox, boots can never really come into contact with the ground.

I don’t think I do know. Was it the president of Vandeley Industries?

Poetry anthology and a can of cold brew coffee

Blue Arizona sky with mountains on the horizon

Saturday in the yard

Good to know. Afraid I was going to have to cancel the dime.

Hah! Eve of Destruction.

Yes. The scandal is not that Russia is pursuing its interests as it sees them but that members of the administration from the top on down have de facto allied themselves with Russia, whose interests are opposed to those of the US.

Didn’t they used to have things called “homes for the criminally insane?” This is just brutal.

I’ve been reading Memorias de Pancho Villa, and he did the same. The gist being, the enemy only might kill you, but if you don’t go forward you can be sure I’ll have you shot.

I don’t think it’s just libs. Hard to imagine anyone seeing that and thinking Yeah, I’m glad he’s having a good time.

I was listening to And it Stoned Me just the other day and it’s still rolling around inside my head. And while you don’t often here accolades of Van Morrison as a person, I think there must have been, and maybe still is, something very pure in him.