Vergil

Ad Mundo Exteriore,

I'm in love with Vergil. Or maybe it's just the Mandelbaum translation. But wow, I never knew I was such a sucker for beautiful poetry, but apparently I am.

Listen to this, from Eclogue IV:

"Child, for your first presents earth itself will pour out romping ivy,
foxgloves, bouquets of gipsy lilies and smiling acanthus.
Goats shall walk home, their udders taut with milk, with none
to herd them: cattle will have no fear of the lion:
soft blossoms will spring up from your very cradle.
But snakes will die, and so will fair-seeming, poisonous plants.
Assyrian spice and incense will blossom everywhere.

"But when you are old enough to read of famous men
and your father's deeds, to learn what manhood means,
then a slow flush of tender gold shall mantle the great plains,
then shall grapes hang wild and reddening on thorn-trees,
and honey sweat like dew from the hard bark of oaks."

The Aeneid is even more gorgeous. ::sighs:: So lovely...I think I'm getting to be a sap in my "old age".

...Tari

Post-script: At the end of the last lecture, Professor Tarrant recited Catallus' poem in English translation and then in Latin. No notes. Completely memorized. And we were in Sanders Theater, which is one of the grandest halls on campus, at least in my opinion, and the acoustics were perfect. I forgot to write about that. We listened to the rolling fluid sounds of spoken Latin echoed throughout the hall, where classical statues stood next to the stage and Latin inscriptions could be read on the ceiling. Positively amazing. I do love my classes even if I agonize about the homework. ^_^

Horace

Ad Mundo Exteriore,

I was supposed to have read these already but...oh well, whatever, I'm reading them now.

From Horace's Satires:

"...My countryside, when can I see
your face again? When can I leave this day-
to-day fatigue, forget it like a dream,
and spend my time with ancient books, in sleep,
in lazing days? When can I have warm beans
(Pythagoras, I'm sorry. They're souls
to you, but food to me) and vegetables
and juicy ham -- What nights of feasting fit
for gods!"

::falls over laughing:: Don't you love that aside to Pythagoras?

I signed up to meet Professor Tarrant today (he's holding special office hours until the end of next week because there are 700+ people enrolled in the class, and this is the only way for him to meet any of us individually), and when I walked into his office, two of the books on his table were Roman Homosexuality and Love Between Women. Probably academic, but still amusing nonetheless, especially because he's apparently Catholic. I think. He said he sang in St. Paul's choir, which should be reasonable grounds for assumption, neh?

I never talk about any of my other professors do I? Did I tell you that my instructor for math has a British accent and gestures almost constantly? I have yet to see him stand still for more than a second. He's actually very effective at keeping me awake because I'm suppressing the urge to laugh half the time. He's not ridiculous, but he is very tall and very lanky, kind of like Ichabod Crane, though less clumsy, and I just find it hilarious. ^_^ Hm...but my professors for Korean and biology are pretty much normal. They have their moments of humor, but they have not done anything particularly out of the ordinary yet.

...Tari