Virgil and context

[Jonathan Lighter]

I was about get Swiftian on Post's butt, but lucky for him I reconsidered.

I pass over the issue of Constitutional Originalism as beneath my notice.

As for the verse from Virgil...
On the one hand, by arrogating the power to impose his own
preferred interpretation of Virgil's words, Post might
be considered hypocritically guilty of the worst form of elitism, not to
mention  psychocolonialism.  At least Alexander doesn't sound like a
hypocrite!

Post seems to "reason" that a poem can mean whatever you want it to mean,
and what he wants it to mean is what it by-God means. Never mind what
Alexander wants it to mean.

But in that case, words chosen at random from a Latin dictionary might be
even more meaningful, since each one of us would then be totally free to
interpret them as we please, especially if we don't know Latin.  Greek would
be even better because most people wouldn't even be able to sound out the
letters.

Ironically, however, Post's conclusion, that the verse is fine, may be more
satisfactory in spite of being strictly a non sequitur. Alexander seems to
object to contextual associations that only Vergilians would notice. I
suspect that even most of them would dismiss these associations as
irrelevant to the memorial context, particularly since both Aeneas and
visitors to the memorial are or would be mourning the deaths of compatriots,
and the plain meaning of the proposed words seems entirely fitting.

That's not to say that an even more appropriate, more pointed inscription
might not be found.  But till then, the line sounds OK to me.

I mean in Latin. The proposed English version is not "eloquent" at all. Why
not something a bit more concise and rhythmical, like "Never shall you
fade from the memory of Time"?

JL
 --
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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