Recusatio

[porphyry]

Recusatio

No excuses do I make for neglecting epic

To my master the Emperor.

The iridescence of lyric does not distract me,

The purgative power of drama does not drain me,

The limping boy does not fill me with love.

I have no recusation to make.

I confess my incompetence.

The face that launched a thousand ships

I am too dull to describe.

The Heroes’ returns I would stumble over.

I am too dimwitted to follow the Euxine path of the Argo,

Too banal to narrate the birth of my nation,

The vicissitudes of its civil strife,

The pristine glory of its empire.

I can but lament for myself.