Sixty Poems of Martial In Translation
About this book
Good epigrams (like demonic Rice Krispies) go Snap, Crackle, Pow! Witness Fitts' rendering of Martial X:16- "He aimed at the target, but he got/ his wife in the gullet. Lucky shot." The translator of the epigrams faces problems of how to keep them sharp and stinging, bright and biting, and pertinent- for they abound in topical allusion. Fitts succeeds brilliantly in mastering these problems by respecting the tenor and the tone as well as the texts of the originals. With wit, an unerring ear for idiom and analogous word-play, and joy in the use/abuse of slick stereotypes, he creates poetry for contemporary Americans with no infidelity to Roman Martial. Witness IX: 33- "You asked at the Baths why all this sudden applause?/ It's their habit, Cabot./ Another Yale type has stepped out of his drawers." This slight and selective collection is recommended as excellent Martial and fine modern verse.