I, Claudius Poem
Here is an excerpt from the first chapter of Robert Graves novel, "I, Claudius."
This is when the main character, the stuttering Roman emperor visits a Sibyl and asks a question about Rome's fate and his. The Goddess mimics Claudius's stammer, which shames him and replies:
Ten years, fifty days and three,
Clau--Clau--Clau--shall given be
A gift that all desire but he.
To a fawning fellowship
He shall stammer, cluck and trip,
Dribbling always with his lip.
But when he's dumb and no more here,
Nineteen hundred years or near,
Clau--clau--Claudius shall speak clear.


0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home