Complete success is too much to demand, but Hooper's achievement is impressive, especially in his rhymed couplets. It is simply astonishing to see how often his version allows the Latin-less reader to appreciate not only what the poet says but how he says it, balancing wit and accuracy and displaying a verve comparable to the original effect. To save space, I will concentrate on the epigrams, some of them capable still perhaps of slight improvement. I've never fucked a girl who wasn't tight. The unrhymed trochaics are in general less successful but often still good.
Some disappointments involve the misunderstanding of sexual terms.
In addition, I dispute Hooper's treatment of irrumare , used a total of 5 times in 4 poems. Hooper's Introduction and notes do a reasonably good, if grim, job of acquainting non-specialist readers with the current state of scholarship on Roman sexuality and on the Priapea . The best of his witty and joyous translations, however, will show them why the work is worth reading, despite his comments about their content.