Peter Jeffrey: ‘In the Piazza della Signoria’ and ‘Latin Lover’
In the Piazza della Signoria
Salutations Benvenuto,
Never mind your braggadocio,
It took your cranky genius
To come up with Il Perseo.
Two tons of godlike arrogance
Italian sprezzatura:
Apollo of the Renaissance,
Bellissima figura.
Peter Jeffrey
Latin Lover
I used to know some Latin once, but that was long ago,
To Lalage sweetly smiling I recited amabo.
Ut and the subjunctive simply nothing to me then,
Absolutely ablatives flowed glibly from my pen.
Arma virumque cano is now as far as I can get
With Virgil, and Horatius Flaccus
I couldn’t translate for a bet;
But I’ve bought a Latin Grammar on the worldwide internet,
And in time I could become an ocker Latin Lover yet.
Peter Jeffrey
Madam: Archbishop Fisher (July-August 2024) does not resist the attacks on his church by the political, social or scientific atheists and those who insist on not being told what to do.
Aug 29 2024
6 mins
To claim Aborigines have the world's oldest continuous culture is to misunderstand the meaning of culture, which continuously changes over time and location. For a culture not to change over time would be a reproach and certainly not a cause for celebration, for it would indicate that there had been no capacity to adapt. Clearly this has not been the case
Aug 20 2024
23 mins
A friend and longtime supporter of Quadrant, Clive James sent us a poem in 2010, which we published in our December issue. Like the Taronga Park Aquarium he recalls in its 'mocked-up sandstone cave' it's not to be forgotten
Aug 16 2024
2 mins