Derek Mahon...and at Baiae

Length / Form Six-line stanzas, laid out on the page in imitation of the elegiac meter (with alternate lines indented).

Allusion to Classical place Baiae, Rome

Relationship to Classical text Classical geographical and mythological references are omitted, whilst the poem is brought up to date with contemporary slang ("has some beach bum [...]/ oiled up to you [...]some dickhead adept at sexy talk"

Close translation of words/phrases/excerpts The poem is a version of Propertius' Elegies I, 11

Comment The Sextus and Cynthia poems were first published in a limited edition (Oldcastle: The Gallery Press, 2009).