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Debits and credits

Chapter 19: THE JANEITES
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About This Book

A varied collection of short fiction and verse that moves between mythic retellings, moral allegories, wartime vignettes, and social sketches. Pieces examine loyalty, duty, and the tension between tradition and change, often blending satirical observation with elegiac reflection. Some items use classical or legendary frames to illuminate human motives; others present intimate portraits of conflict, loss, and consolation. Formally diverse—featuring poems, short plays, and narrative sketches—the volume shifts tone frequently but returns to recurring concerns about conscience, belonging, and the costs and comforts of community.

THE JANEITES

THE SURVIVAL

Horace, Ode 22, Bk. V.

Securely, after days
Unnumbered, I behold
Kings mourn that promised praise
Their cheating bards foretold.
Of earth-constricting wars,
Of Princes passed in chains,
Of deeds out-shining stars,
No word or voice remains.
Yet furthest times receive
And to fresh praise restore,
Mere flutes that breathe at eve,
Mere seaweed on the shore.
A smoke of sacrifice;
A chosen myrtle-wreath;
An harlot’s altered eyes;
A rage ’gainst love or death;
Glazed snow beneath the moon;
The surge of storm-bowed trees—
The Caesars perished soon,
And Rome Herself: But these
Endure while Empires fall
And Gods for Gods make room ...
Which greater God than all
Imposed the amazing doom?