What wondrous news.
Robert Fagles, the majestic and magical translator of The Iliad and The Odyssey, comes forth at last with his Aeneid.
This is truly a momentous occasion.
On a personal note, I’m finally going to be able to "get into" this hitherto impenetrable epic.
Here’s a news story about the 73-years-young Professor Fagles and this ten-years project, with his comments on "empire" and, by implication, that fuckwit Bush as well.
An excerpt, showing the effortless poetry of the man’s mind:
The other challenge was to keep the whole thing going for 12 books and some 12,000 lines. “You can’t let it sag,” Mr. Fagles said. “Cadence is everything, and that takes a lot of lung, a lot of nerve, a lot of luck.” And a lot of impersonation, he added, confessing that for Dido’s great speech of lament he imagined romantic heroines like Anna Karenina.
We are truly blessed in this day!