Abstract

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Two Sonnets DANIEL GALEF Glaucus to Anthedon Such solid, stolid soil. What fun is that? What farmer ever tilled his earth to find the fieldstones leaping up at him, as at Orpheus as he sang his chanties? Mind your patch of tidy rows. I shall not bind myself to any but the Boundless Sea. A ship’s prow is the only plow for me, who neither sows nor reaps—the only kind of plow that leaves no furrow. Not a mark can mar the living ocean. In her breast slip albacore and marlin, skate and shark, a marvelous bounty greater than the best terrestrial treasures. Let Pluton’s cold gems lurk; I won’t go back to scratching in his dirt. arion 28.1 spring/summer 2020 54 two sonnets Tiberius to a Slave (after Suetonius, De Vita Caesarum, III.70) What is the song the sirens used to sing? To whom did bold Prometheus give his fire? What river may I sail to reach the ring Of flaming water girding Gaia’s pyre? What pet names did the fair Achilles earn From his Achaean maidens who would stroke His naked heel? Do dryads’ lithe limbs burn? How does a god sustain Himself on smoke? How long can you, Piscicule, hold your breath Beneath these wine-bright waters of Capri? How many bubbles billow before death Is dealt? And who was Hecuba’s mother? These scholarly pursuits fascinate me— I will find their answers, one way or another....