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    AC Benus
  • AC Benus
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  • 12/07/2022
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Poetry posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

The Great Mirror of Same-Sex Love - Poetry - 81. ...not for twenty million!...

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Martial –

A selection of serious epigrams

 

 

In all thy humors, whether great or mellow,

Thou’rt such a touchy, testy, pleasant fellow;

Hast so much wit, and mirth, and spleen about thee,

There is no living with thee, nor without thee.

—Martial (1)

 

[Joseph Addison]

 

 

 

A tender girl’s sweet breath after biting an apple;

The sweet scent of saffron that comes from Corycia;

The smell of a vine white with the first spring blossoms;

The odor of grass that is freshly grazed by sheep;

The perfume of myrtle and Arabic spices and amber;

Of a fire whitened by frankincense from the East;

Of the earth just sprinkled with a light summer shower;

Of a crown just worn by a head redolent with nard –

With all these, cruel Diadumenus, your kisses are fragrant.

Why don’t you give them to me completely without holding back?

—Martial, (2)

epigram III, 65

 

[D.R. Shackleton]

 

 

 

[‘Not for several million will I wed a woman’]

 

Polytimus may always be chasing the girls,

While Hymnus only reluctantly admits he’s a boy;

Secundus has a buttocks a yard wide,

And Amphion might easily have been born a girl.

 

But I prefer their whims and tantrums, Avitus,

– Plus their bitchy complaints – even to any

Woman dowered with several million.

—Martial, (3)

epigram XII, 75

 

[After D.R. Shackleton]

 

 

 

While the eagle was carrying Ganymede through the heavenly sky,

His burden clung to those talons that didn’t want to hurt;

Now a new prey is softening Emperor Domitian’s bold loins

And dallies like a bunny in their gaping mouths.

Which miracle to you is greater? The creators of both are supreme;

Our Caesar on the one hand, Jove on the other.

—Martial,

epigram I, 6

 

[D.R. Shackleton]

 

 

 

On the Dead Alcimus

 

Alcimus, who was taken from your master in your rising years

And are covered by the light earth of Labicum,

Take from me not a ponderous marble sarcophagus,

Whose vain artistry perishes into dust,

But this slender boxtree and the dark shadows of vines

And some green grass that is wet with my tears.

Take them, dear boy, as monument of my grief.

May this honor to you last through all time.

And when the Fate Lachesis decides to snip off my final years,

I order that my ashes should lie nowhere but here.

—Martial, (4)

epigram I, 88

 

[D.R. Shackleton]

 

 

 

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1) “In all thy humors” Martial epigram in translation by Joseph Addison, May 18th edition of Spector Magazine (London 1711)

2) “A tender girl’s sweet breath” Martial epigram III, 65. Saffron was associated in an ancient Roman’s mind with its use as a flavoring for expensive cake and pastry. One may read a satire of this flavoring being overused for baked goods in the “Trimalchio’s Dinner” section of Petronius’ Satyricon. The reference to “nard” is Nardus jatamansi, the essential oil of a Himalayan plant valued for millennia as the world’s finest perfume. In the New Testament, it is this substance a devotee of Jesus wants to anoint him with while his followers object and say they should sell it for the money. It was also among the first things looted from King Tutankhamun’s tomb in ancient times (along with glassware and gold objects). The empty alabaster vessels containing the jatamansi were found opened and abandoned by Howard Carter’s team in 1922.

3) “[Not for several million will I wed a woman]” Martial epigram XII, 75.

4) “On the Dead Alcimus” Martial epigram I, 88. The reference to “slender boxtree” here is interesting, as box wood was one of the species of trees, along with birch, preferred to make thin veneer slices of “paper.” This is the medium on which a poem like this would have been written and preserved in ancient times. Bound volumes of these wooden leaves were the mass-market books of the day, and the way writers like Martial got carried forward in time. Likewise, perhaps the “dark shadows of vines” is a reference to the natural cordage used to sew these books together.

 

_

as noted
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Poetry posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
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Chapter Comments

raven1

I too enjoyed these poems and the notes you provided.  As usual it led me to further research history.  The first epigram referred to humors and the spleen. That resulted in finding out that a healthy spleen was considered the source of laughter by Greeks and Romans of the time. Learning about Martial led me to think that this poem was a bit autobiographical.

The second search was for a person named Diadumenus in the second epigram.  However, I found this in Wikipedia instead with another source elaborating that the athlete was sweaty from participating and winning the event.  I guess Martial is saying that he prefers the scent of a sweaty athlete's kiss to the other delightful things mentioned.  He had a kinky, wicked sense of humor!

Quote

The Diadumenos, together with the Doryphoros, are two of the most famous figural types of the sculptor Polyclitus, forming a basic pattern of Ancient Greek sculpture that all present strictly idealized representations of young male athletes in a convincingly naturalistic manner.

The third epigram was a humorous way to tell the reader of Martial's preferred company, and thus suggest his own sexuality.

After researching the Roman Emperor Domitian in the fourth poem, I believe it is a political stab at the emperor pointing out the emperor's moral hypocrisy.  

The fifth poem was a beautiful love poem to a beloved youth (possibly his slave) who died early in life.  The poem is the memorial that Martial hopes will be remembered after the stone of other memorials have turned to dust.  

Reading about Martial in Wikipedia provided several other epigrams, but I loved this funny epigram.

Quote

With your giant nose and cock
I bet you can with ease
When you get excited
check the end for cheese.

I do love these postings.  They give me a lot of new knowledge and fun research!  Great work AC!

Edited by raven1
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AC Benus
12 hours ago, raven1 said:

I too enjoyed these poems and the notes you provided.  As usual it led me to further research history.  The first epigram referred to humors and the spleen. That resulted in finding out that a healthy spleen was considered the source of laughter by Greeks and Romans of the time. Learning about Martial led me to think that this poem was a bit autobiographical.

The second search was for a person named Diadumenus in the second epigram.  However, I found this in Wikipedia instead with another source elaborating that the athlete was sweaty from participating and winning the event.  I guess Martial is saying that he prefers the scent of a sweaty athlete's kiss to the other delightful things mentioned.  He had a kinky, wicked sense of humor!

The third epigram was a humorous way to tell the reader of Martial's preferred company, and thus suggest his own sexuality.

After researching the Roman Emperor Domitian in the fourth poem, I believe it is a political stab at the emperor pointing out the emperor's moral hypocrisy.  

The fifth poem was a beautiful love poem to a beloved youth (possibly his slave) who died early in life.  The poem is the memorial that Martial hopes will be remembered after the stone of other memorials have turned to dust.  

Reading about Martial in Wikipedia provided several other epigrams, but I loved this funny epigram.

I do love these postings.  They give me a lot of new knowledge and fun research!  Great work AC!

Thanks, Terry. Martial gave assumed names to all the people he cites in his epigrams. Diadumenus is featured in a whole series of very interesting poems, mainly of the seduction kind. But the name is a personal choice of Martial's, and something like a modern poet calling a boy he loves "Pelé", or "Beckham" 

Thanks for reading. I have the next selection of some of Martial's "naughty" poems all lined up to go! 

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AC Benus
On 12/7/2022 at 2:17 PM, Parker Owens said:

I thank you for these, and especially for your end notes in this chapter. I particularly liked the final epigram for its images and idea; then you more fully illuminated the meaning, and it shine brighter still. 

Thank you, Parker. The final poem is super strong stuff and unlike the usual rhymed couplets his work gets in hyped-up English versions. This is a side of Martial of don't get to see because it interferes with the 'bad lad' persona so many have crafted for his work.

It also helps that it's a Gay tribute! Somehow I hope his ashes got to be commingled with is dead beloved    

Edited by AC Benus
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AC Benus
22 hours ago, Backwoods Boy said:

Highly enlightening.  Too bad I didn't know about Martial when I was selecting a translation project for high school Latin.  It would have been much more interesting than the assortment of Pliny's letters.  And the teacher, who I now realize was the "friend of the marginalized students" would have approved. :) 

Thank you, Backwoods Boy. Catullus, Martial and Juvenal are the three bad lads of Latin poetry, and I'm learning the wild lengths at satire Juvenal strove for get retroactively applied to Martial and Catullus, when it might not be all that appropriate. There is much that is subtle is both Martial and his predecessor Catullus.

It's always interesting to compare how the same poem is treated by various translators. In the case of the three bad lads, there's a lot of projection of 20th century biases onto these poets' work.

Shackleton's translations are by far the best at not dragging preconceived notions back two millennial (and sullying formerly more progressive times than our own!).      

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Backwoods Boy
56 minutes ago, AC Benus said:

It's always interesting to compare how the same poem is treated by various translators. In the case of the three bad lads, there's a lot of projection of 20th century biases onto these poets' work.

It has to be difficult to translate a poem without losing both the meaning and the poetic flow (for lack of a better term).  A classic example might be the seasonal "O Tannenbaum", which has both been abused and at times improved upon (in my opinion).  My Very Lutheran father, whose parents were immigrants and who spoke German in the home of his youth, was less fond of the original than some of the translations, likely due to his own 20th century biases :) 

If Adison (1, above) was looking at the same verses which you translated the other day, he certainly embellished.

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AC Benus
17 hours ago, Backwoods Boy said:

It has to be difficult to translate a poem without losing both the meaning and the poetic flow (for lack of a better term).  A classic example might be the seasonal "O Tannenbaum", which has both been abused and at times improved upon (in my opinion).  My Very Lutheran father, whose parents were immigrants and who spoke German in the home of his youth, was less fond of the original than some of the translations, likely due to his own 20th century biases :) 

If Adison (1, above) was looking at the same verses which you translated the other day, he certainly embellished.

You have me wanting to go see the lyrics of "O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree" in the original German. But your comment along these lines had me immediately thinking of what I consider to be among the very worst lyrics in the English language. They're also from a holiday song, called "Merry Christmas, Darling," and run ---- "the logs on the fire / fill me with desire . . . " lol.

Really?! Do they now :)  I bet the song is much better in German translation ;)     

Edited by AC Benus
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Backwoods Boy
40 minutes ago, AC Benus said:

You have me wanting to go see the lyrics of "O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree" in the original German. But your comment along these lines had me immediately thinking of what I consider to be among the very worst lyrics in the English language. They're also from a holiday song, called "Merry Christmas, Darling," and run ---- "the logs on the fire / fill me with desire . . . " lol.

Really?! Do they now :)  I bet the song is much better in German translation ;)     

I wonder if there is a desperation to produce something new and marketable for the short-lived but profitable holiday season.  I avoid shopping during the "season" due to an involuntary gag reflex at the tripe being piped through the speakers.  Perhaps a "Holiday Songs We Could Live Without" contest might be in order.  😈

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AC Benus
On 12/8/2022 at 3:22 PM, Backwoods Boy said:

. . . likely due to his own 20th century biases :) 

If Addison (1, above) was looking at the same verses which you translated the other day, he certainly embellished.

It was Addison who brought me into my recent, more extended contact with the work of Martial. Yes, the version of the "live with / live without" epigram is the one he provided (with the Latin original) in his essay "On Friendship" (read: "On Same-Sex Love" -- as friendship was a safe, non-threatening codeword for Gay love over the centuries). I'll admit I've been bad and have yet to look up the epigram number for this poem . . . so there's a slight chance both Latin and English versions were penned by Joseph Addison himself. 

But the larger point about embellishments is a good. In fact, the contrast between the translations of Martial that Stephen Coote published in his Gay poetry anthology from the early 1980s and the Shackleton translations of Martial that James Wilhelm chose for his mid-90s anthology of Gay verse is startling. It's inspired me to write an essay on how same-sex love is treated in English translations. The compare and contrast between the two anthologies provides an excellent example for me to "explain" what a biased translation looks like (and should be avoided at all costs, because it gives the wrong, 20th-century bigotry of homophobia free reign), and a good, "neutral" translation matching the authentic tone of the non-biased original.

Martial is an excellent poet to choose, because he, along with Catullus and Juvenal have received endless, dirty-minded attention from English schoolboys over the centuries. They've all used the Latin they've found as excuse to be as dirty in English as the language permits, despite -- in most cases -- how moderate the Latin these puerile translations are based on actually is. Plus, this schoolboy translators were virulent gay-haters; at least on paper (if not in the school dormitories, late at night . . . .)  

I can provide an eyeopening example right here and now. Shackleton's translation of epigram XII, 75 is above, and presumably is an accurate rendering of Martial's tone and word choice. Now, compare that with the "Anonymous" translator of the exact same poem Coote chose to publish in 1983.

 

XII, 75

 

My Polytimus vexes and provokes,

He always leaves me for insipid pokes;

Hypnus is so retiring, shy and coy,

He swears he'll not be called by darling boy;

Secundus fills his well gorged arse with cream,

And to the dregs he drains each amorous stream;

The pathic Dindymus affects disgust

For Sodom and Gomorrah's manly lust:

Modest Amphion blushes when I toy --

Nature was mad to make so shy a boy.

For all their faults and their annoying ways

With darling Ganymede I'd pass my days,

Rather than lead a sumptuous tinselled life

With twenty million dollars and a wife.

 

 

Compare the lines involving Secundus: "Secundus fills his well gorged arse with cream" vs. "Secundus has a buttocks a yard wide." The first is a total slur against all Gay people in general; the second, probably much, much closer to Martial's original.

Anyway, I've written about 75% of my essay and just need to gather my thoughts on a proper thesis statement. But with examples like the two above, most of my work has already been done for me!

 

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Backwoods Boy

Thanks for your continuing education.  Yes, the contrast is clear.  I'll definitely look forward to your essay.

I've long felt that "truth" was the most abused word in the English language.  "Translation" is moving up in the list.  To borrow a phrase from the world of music, at what point does "translation of Martial" become "variations on a theme by Martial"?  To go back to the "O Tannenbaum" example - based on internet sources - the "original", from an old German folk song, had nothing to do with Christmas, but was about the tree itself.  You had mentioned curiosity about the original.  This Wikipedia link has the "original", a "loose translation", and then a couple of "versions".  I like their choice of words.  Perhaps "version" is more applicable when liberties are taken.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Tannenbaum

As to the Christmas tree itself, the "truth" I was brought up with was that it was invented by Martin Luther himself.  A little research indicates it was more likely just another "variation on a theme" which was much older.  But I digress...

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AC Benus

AC Benus 36,635

Posted (edited)

On 12/11/2022 at 12:34 PM, Backwoods Boy said:

Thanks for your continuing education.  Yes, the contrast is clear.  I'll definitely look forward to your essay.

I've long felt that "truth" was the most abused word in the English language.  "Translation" is moving up in the list.  To borrow a phrase from the world of music, at what point does "translation of Martial" become "variations on a theme by Martial"?  To go back to the "O Tannenbaum" example - based on internet sources - the "original", from an old German folk song, had nothing to do with Christmas, but was about the tree itself.  You had mentioned curiosity about the original.  This Wikipedia link has the "original", a "loose translation", and then a couple of "versions".  I like their choice of words.  Perhaps "version" is more applicable when liberties are taken.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Tannenbaum

As to the Christmas tree itself, the "truth" I was brought up with was that it was invented by Martin Luther himself.  A little research indicates it was more likely just another "variation on a theme" which was much older.  But I digress...

I plan on posting the essay tomorrow :) Thank you for your proof-reading of it.

In re-reading your message here concerning the idea of translations often being "variations on a theme by Someone", I'm struck about how true that is with Fitzgerald's Victorian best-seller based on the Omar Khayyam's quatrains (Rubaiyats). But Fitzgerald sliced and diced his way though the master's poems, grafting ideas from one poem onto another, and hashing it all up into suitable 19th century (het-enforcing) romanticism and barf-inducing flower language. 

But, every English-speaking house in the word had Fitzgerald's confection in it, so ca-ching for him, and too bad English speakers still have no idea how glorious Khayyam's extensive Queer poetry actually is.        

Edited by AC Benus
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