In Homeri effigiem (n.d.)

See introduction to d2_MaiT_029. The conceit of this poem rests on the belief that Homer, the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, was blind. The painter referenced is unknown. Metre: elegiac couplets.

Link to an image of this page  [p179]

In Homeri effigiem

Caecus erat, qualem pictor designat, Homerus,
sed quae non vidit, quam bene bella canit! 1

Link to an image of this page  [p179]

On Homer's likeness

Homer, as the painter represented him, was blind: but how well he sings of the war he didn't see!

Notes:

Original

1: 'bella canit': Ovid, Metamorphoses V.319; Statius, Thebaid II.213