I think you've caught the tone well, in both poems. Poetry always invites interpretation and speculation; none more so than these (I love that 'it per iter', as the bird hops into the Underworld). And, yes, Martial's, 'Issa' is a (!) companion piece.
Back in 1981 my Latin Lit supervisor in Cambridge informed our little group of 1st year undergrads of a slang meaning of passer which has forever since affected my reading of these poems. Something my teachers at school had never hinted at! But I agree the poems have the merit of working beautifully whether or not double entendre is intended or not.
I loved your reading of the Latin; they make them so much more enjoyable.
Thanks! There’s no slang meaning of passer, in fact. Other than in the fertile imagination of schoolmasters. Martial wrote a lovely poem on a little pet dog, mentioning Catullus’s sparrow. If he thought the latter was just a pet bird, it surely was just a pet bird!
I think you've caught the tone well, in both poems. Poetry always invites interpretation and speculation; none more so than these (I love that 'it per iter', as the bird hops into the Underworld). And, yes, Martial's, 'Issa' is a (!) companion piece.
Back in 1981 my Latin Lit supervisor in Cambridge informed our little group of 1st year undergrads of a slang meaning of passer which has forever since affected my reading of these poems. Something my teachers at school had never hinted at! But I agree the poems have the merit of working beautifully whether or not double entendre is intended or not.
I loved your reading of the Latin; they make them so much more enjoyable.
Thanks! There’s no slang meaning of passer, in fact. Other than in the fertile imagination of schoolmasters. Martial wrote a lovely poem on a little pet dog, mentioning Catullus’s sparrow. If he thought the latter was just a pet bird, it surely was just a pet bird!
I love it, thanks for sharing. I don't care whether there are double entendres or not. And I agree there's probably not. Its an excellent poem.
Thanks Mike