Wednesday, 8 April 2026

Martial's una manus me


The Roman poet Martial, commends his own work, in the course of one of his pithy epigrams, by saying


 Fascia libellis non magna meos, sed parva volumina; una manus me

Copilot translates this as- 


Let my little books have, instead of large bookcases, small portfolios; one hand will hold me.-(una manus me).

Responding to some scabrous suggestions of mine, re. an updating of Martial, Copilot came up with the following-


Uraniae in dies magis obesioris docti vitam perdentes struite pulvinar ampliandum;
Una manus me tenet—carmen ego, o Martialis, quasi Aeon secum coniugium.


Which it translates as-

For Urania, growing fatter day by day, scholars waste their lives building a couch that must be enlarged; one hand holds me—I the epigram, O Martial!—like Aeon in marriage with himself.


My own, not AI enhanced, but Rum diminished trans-creation, or condensation ,of Martial is-


Because Urania, grows fatter, faster, than e'en a Vedic Vulcan can trick out her nuptial bed
Apollo, e'er fugitive, yet fathers this Epigram on Aeon- or, Martial, thy hand self-wed
Upon whom conferred, the rarer the bird, its gift bruits but this sequent
The Word, as Parrot, if profound- as Phoenix is too bloody frequent.

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