A college Olympian

Abstract

Charles Stuart Calverley (1831-1884), wit, parodist, classical scholar, translator, athlete, pipe-smoker, beer-drinker, enjoyed considerable popular fame in his own brief day. He had what might now be called 'star quality'. The fame has long since died- not many people have even heard of him - but Calverley's accomplishment stands: as a master of light verse, to the prosodic techniques of which he made important contributions, and as a gifted translator of the classical poets, notably Horace and Virgil. His work, as displayed in this article, suggests an affinity between the mimetics of parody and the stylistics of translation, a common factor being an insight into the relationship between phrasing and prosodic form. It raises, however, the question of whether linguistic/mimetic ability, however great, can ever be more than a component of creative power. For Calverley it was never quite enough; his friends and colleagues saw him as a man whose youthful promise was not to be wholly fulfilled, a college Olympian who never scaled the heights of poetic achievement.