I. Love. This.


From 1797, A Burlesque Translation of Homer. Two volumes, 360 and 432 pages respectively, of bawdy humor. No more dactylic hexameter, this one is in the far friendlier iambic tetrameter. It’s like I have a twin.

It’s beautiful, it’s hilarious, and what wonderful illustrations!

Cuttlecap tip to Jennifer Ouellette on twitter.

Comments

  1. Pierce R. Butler says

    This must be your evil twin – when have you ever been so desperate as to (attempt to) rhyme “uncivil” and “the devil”?

  2. Cuttlefish says

    In 1797, I’d have rhymed those in a heartbeat. Check the full thing out for some even more amusing stunt rhymes.

  3. Pierce R. Butler says

    “Stunt rhymes” for the language-bending fun of it, or by vowel-drift?

    I hadn’t realized they issued poets 00_ licenses to kill so soon after the Revolution.

  4. Cuttlefish says

    Both, I suspect–some of the rhymes are very clearly the author having a grand old time. Others may be that, or may be an accident of time.

  5. davem says

    I hadn’t realized they issued poets 00_ licenses to kill so soon after the Revolution.

    Revolution? Whose? It was published in London…

  6. echidna says

    What’s wrong with rhyming “uncivil” and “the devil”? Sound a bit New Zealanderish, but it works for me.

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