Regular readers are surely aware that Odious and I have quite a liking for bad poetry; indeed, I frequently prefer it over good. So I was very pleased to run across this A. E. Housman parody of a bad translation of a fragment of a Greek tragedy. I especially like the chorus, which seems exasperatingly authentic in its bone-headed smothering of the plot.
ALCMAEON: May I then enter, passing through the door?(Link thanks to Languagehat.)
CHORUS: Go chase into the house a lucky foot.
And, O my son, be, on the one hand, good,
And do not, on the other hand, be bad;
For that is much the safest plan.
ALCMAEON: I go into the house with heels and speed.
