Abstract
One of the most appealing of David Malouf's works of the last decade is the poem 'Seven Last Words of the Emperor Hadrian' (2003). This late work meditates on last things in a very different tone from the 'Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross' that Haydn set to solemn music. Malouf's 'Seven Last Words' are playful variations on the short Latin poem attributed to Hadrian, 'Animula vagula blandula,' in which the Emperor, dying in his body, speaks to his departing soul. Malouf adopts the tender, questioning tone of the original, a poem already loved by translators, from Donne and Pope to Marguerite Yourcenar, while stretching it further, through multiple adapations.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Journal of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Publication status | Published - 2014 |
Keywords
- literature
- poetry