I had never heard of the book of Susanna until today but having looked it up, I don't understand why it isn't included in the bible, its a great story. Well, maybe I do.
Instead of using a woman as a metaphor for infidelity, Susanna is an honest, God-fearing woman, raised by righteous parents, who is falsely accused of a sexually scandalous crime. It is instead the elders that are perverted, conflicting perhaps with the public view of men in such positions. Other than that, it's a great story. It's like a John Grisham courtroom drama the way Daniel interrogates the elders. I also liked the fact that he found them guilty with legitimate evidence rather than knee-jerk assumptions or arbitrary leviticusesque laws.
As for the Wallace poem, its as if he is narrating the thoughts of both Susanna and the peeping Tom elders, relating their emotions to music. Susanna's are a calm melody and recollections of love, while the elders are a driving, throbbing beat urging them to act on their lust.
The final stanza speaks of irony and the nature of beauty. While Susanna was beautiful and tempted the elders, her beauty was impermanent. The story of the elders' dishonesty and perversion will live on forever. All because they couldn't leave her alone.
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