Author Information
At A Moment With The Emperor Augustus
Derogatory words or lines discursive:
in either, Virgil's epic is subversive.
Aeneas---prince of Troy (burnt rubble)---leads
by putting well above his own desire
his people's (and all their descendents') needs.
That is not much like you, Octavian.
Unfinished yet, the poem gives no reflection
of you, or your words spoken and deeds done---
to keep the old Republic in subjection
while vesting you with its imperium.
The constitutional S P Q R
means nothing more in Rome than in some far
province. The poem that these drafts will become
consumes your soul---like Trojan walls on fire.
Starward
[jlc]
