Prologue to the Satires   

by Persius

"Prologue to the Satires" in the original Latin of Persius

 A. M. Juster
reads 

Prologue to the Satires



in Real Audio format.
     

I have never dallied to refresh my lips
In the fountain where Apollo’s packhorse sips
And have never dreamed (unless I didn’t know it)
Of descending from Parnassus as a poet.
I relinquish Helicon’s unsullied waters
And the pleasures of Pirene’s depleting waters
To those honored gentlemen whose faces seem
Half-obscured by wreaths bestowed by academe.
Since I am among their brashest acolytes,
I use poetry to crash their solemn rites,
But who thought these parrots should be taught to squawk?
Who determined that these ravens ought to talk?
Probably that maestro-a true prodigy
Called “Will Hunger” spurred these birds to mimicry,
Which suggests that if you found some artifice
That could teach them all the joys of avarice
Then our flocks of cawing poets might infuse
Their shrill music with the sweetness of the Muse.

— Translated from the Latin of Persius
     by A. M. Juster

share it 

respond

      Able Muse

Contents