Chapter & Verse

Correspondence on not-so-famous lost words

Richard Kennelly seeks a poem he saw in the late ’70s, perhaps in The Atlantic Monthly, in which an older man muses about a youth who has a motorcycle; that causes him to recall his own past and the wild rush of riding horses. Kennelly remembers the phrases “The neighbor’s boy” (or “son”), “A bum in boots they call him,” and “The smell of horse sweat.”

Mark Saltveit submits two palindromes—Aspice nam raro mittit timor arma, nec ipsa / Si se mente reget, non tegeret Nemesis—that begin an elegiac Latin poem consisting of 58 palindromes attacking Duke Karl of Sudermannland (a.k.a. Charles IX of Sweden). Saltveit writes that the poem “is (impossibly) ascribed to Johannes a Lasco and likely Polish,” and hopes someone can identify the true author, or original source. (His friend William Berg translates those opening lines as: “Consider: for fear doesn’t send arms to everyone, nor does / Nemesis herself cover a man, if he rules himself with his mind.”)

“and drinking claret” (May-June). Sandra Opdycke was the first reader to recognize these slightly misremembered lines from the first book of Stephen Vincent Benét’s epic poem, John Brown’s Body. They appear in the section that introduces Sally Dupré, and describe her father: “And he died as he lived, with an air, on credit, / In his host’s best shirt and a Richmond garret, / Talking to shadows and drinking claret.”

Send inquiries and answers to Chapter and Verse, Harvard Magazine, 7 Ware Street, Cambridge 02138, or via email to chapterandverse@harvardmag.com.

Click here for the July-August 2019 issue table of contents

Related Topics

You might also like

Reconstructing the Berlin Wall

David Leo Rice explores the strange, unseen forces shaping our world.

Making Money Funny

Matt Levine’s spunky Bloomberg column

An Original Magna Carta, Hidden in Plain Sight

A rare original surfaces at Harvard at an “almost providential” moment. 

Most popular

Harvard’s Hiring Freeze Continues

University leaders say $1 billion per year is at risk due to federal actions

Harvard Retains Winthrop Name

Committee undecided on whether owning slaves merits denaming

The Professor Who Quantified Democracy

Erica Chenoweth’s data shows how—and when—authoritarians fall.

Explore More From Current Issue

Garber, Trump, and the Fight for Harvard’s Future

Introducing a guide to the issues, players, and stakes.

New Harvard Overseers and HAA Directors

Alumni showed increased interest in this year’s elections.