Plays
Were
Performed
In Republican Rome
At ludi.
That is
– Ludi –
Celebratory
Festivals
Or
Games.
Ludi glorified Gods;
Jupiter [for example]
Or wealthy citizens,
Sometimes
Politicians
Who wanted to
Proclaim
Special occasions:
Funerals
Or triumphal entries
[Don’t ask!]
The Gladiators came out,
Animals were baited,
Acrobats did their thing,
In an eclipse of literary drama.
Fescennine verses
Were staged
– Fescennina carmina –
Italian poetry,
The harbinger of
Satire and
Comic drama [oh yeah!]
Ludi Cereales,
A fertility celebration
Of Spring,
Honours Ceres,
Goddess of the fields,
Goddess of grains.
For eight days only!
Symbolic ritual demands
The release of foxes
With flaming brands
On tails [poor things].
We’ll have
No cruelty
To foxes
Here.
But offer
Milk,
Honey,
Wine,
After you’ve taken them
Thrice
Around the field.
Polly Robinson © 2012
