Dear Carrol,

Wonderful. I need to find that. I read the talks of the presidents of the London Virgil Society--Eliot was the first, and his talk is the 1944 lecture--and they have vastly different views of Aeneas. But they all seem to be preoccupied with the Dido-Aeneas story.

I will look for this.
Thanks,
Nancy

On Sun, Mar 11, 2018 at 8:47 PM, Cox, Carrol <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Benton Harbor High library subbed to the Virginia Review (I think that was its title) and while browsing in the library once I picked up a copy with an essay by Robert Graves on Virgil (and he hated both Virgil AND Aeneas, as though Aeneis and Virgil were evil contemporaries. He particularly lashed Aeneas for the episode in hades; he argued that Dido's husband sis nor know of her affair with Aeneas, and that is why she turned away from him, to avoid exposure. Aeneas was a cad for his behavior.

I don't remember the date, but probably a volume in the early  1940s. And this is the only part of the essay I remember. I was probably 14 or 15  at the time.

Carrol



-----Original Message-----
From: T. S. Eliot Discussion forum. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Nancy Gish
Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2018 5:04 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Let's have some variety

I like the idea of variety, but I would like even more if we went back to having real discussions. So much new material is coming out on Eliot--prose, letters, complete poems--that it would be nice to talk about them in some genuine way.

I'm especially interested, for example, in Eliot and WWII, given that he worked in LLoyd's bank on reparations after WWI and praised Keynes's The Economic Consequences of the War. And what I have been writing about is Eliot and Virgil. If anyone has ideas about either--or, indeed, any thoughts about his writing, I'd love to know. The list used to be a forum; that has not been true now for several years.

Best,
Nancy

On Sat, Mar 10, 2018 at 9:07 PM, Cox, Carrol <[log in to unmask]> wrote:


        his wellbelovéd colonel(trig
        westpointer most succinctly bred)
        took erring Olaf soon in hand;
        but--though an host of overjoyed
        noncoms(first knocking on the head
        him)do through icy waters roll
        that helplessness which others stroke
        with brushes recently employed
        anent this muddy toiletbowl,
        while kindred intellects evoke
        allegiance per blunt instruments--
        Olaf(being to all intents
        a corpse and wanting any rag
        upon what God unto him gave)
        responds,without getting annoyed
        "I will not kiss your fucking flag"

        straightway the silver bird looked grave
        (departing hurriedly to shave)

        but--though all kinds of officers
        (a yearning nation's blueeyed pride)
        their passive prey did kick and curse
        until for wear their clarion
        voices and boots were much the worse,
        and egged the firstclassprivates on
        his rectum wickedly to tease
        by means of skilfully applied
        bayonets roasted hot with heat--
        Olaf(upon what were once knees)
        does almost ceaselessly repeat
        "there is some shit I will not eat"

        our president,being of which
        assertions duly notified
        threw the yellowsonofabitch
        into a dungeon,where he died

        Christ(of His mercy infinite)
        i pray to see;and Olaf,too

        preponderatingly because
        unless statistics lie he was
        more brave than me:more blond than you.

        Copyright 1931, © 1959, 1991 by the Trustees for E. E. Cummings Trust. Copyright © 1979 by Geo