Poem Title |
Original Publication |
CP Page no |
A Quiet Orgy |
Raw Material, Oldcastle: The Gallery Press, 2011 |
Not included in CP |
Length / Form Eight-line stanzas, laid out on the page in imitation of the elegiac meter (with alternate lines indented). Scattered use of rhyme (strategy/orgy, lover/over, scalp/Help!) adds to the comic effect.
Allusion to Classical figure Teia, Cynthia
Allusion to Classical place Tarpeian Rock, Rome
Relationship to Classical text As in Mahon's other adaptation of Propertius, many of the specifically classical references (for instance, to the Forum, Esquiline, Appian Way and Methymnian wine) are omitted and Mahon plays down the strong allusions to war/epic poetry and sacred ritual made in the source text. Instead, he gives contemporary cultural references to "strip poker", "party gear" and "stage doors".
Close translation of words/phrases/excerpts The poem is based on Propertius' Elegies IV, 8.
Comment The Sextus and Cynthia poems were first published in a limited edition (Oldcastle: The Gallery Press, 2009).