A Log Cabin Out of Stone: - Dartmouth College

The first aspect of Copley’s translation that catches the reader is the typographical
devices; the capitals, the spacing, and the way the poem is set on the page. Additionally,
he doesn’t shy away from saying “baby” and poking fun at the gods with the “VENUS
and CUPID LTD.” I find this a very interesting touch. By adding LTD, Copley implies a
high end perfume brand. That is a very contemporary reference, which reminds us that
we are reading the poem in the twentieth century, and places us in history. It gives us a
relationship between this translation and the original, which is a similar strategy to what
Slavitt did in the Vergil translations. Just as Slavitt provided a cultural context for Vergil
in our society today by giving us a way to read the poem as both a staple in learning Latin
and also a poem of loss for the Roman poets, Copley provides us with a way to read this
translation as a part of the history of the poem.
These minor additions enhance the poem and Copley skillfully keeps much of the
Latin intact. For example, Copley transforms Catullus’s “sed contra accipies meros
amores” and says “I CANT GIVE YOU ANYTHING BUT/ LOVE BABY” Copley’s
translation mirrors Catullus’s original. He takes into consideration the time and place of
Catullus, the attitude and the spunk. The translation remains a Catullus poem—if one
were to read the translation it would be a clear reproduction of Catullus 13, easy to
recognize and within Roman context. Copley keeps the names the same, he discusses the
gods, and he reproduces the same jokes. However, Copley is also still present within the
translation and so is the 1957 American culture specifically the Beat Generation poetry.
You can tell that Copley is speaking to a specific population. There is a lot of personality
in Copley’s text which makes it fun and accessible, like his line “I CANT GIVE YOU
ANYTHING BUT/ LOVE BABY.” Copley manages to stretch the cobweb joke to its
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