What is the meaning of this poem on a professor's personal webpage? I've found a few extremely high performing computer science professors listing The Satrapy, a relatively obscure poem, on their personal webpage. Does it have any special meaning with relation to CS/academia or is it just a coincidence?
This poem was an enjoyable read. I think it certainly does hold some relevance for computer scientists and academia as a whole. In the translation available here, the poem reads
Too bad that, cut out as you are
for grand and noble acts,
this unfair fate of yours
never offers encouragement, always denies you success;
that cheap habits get in your way,
pettiness, or indifference.
And how terrible the day you give in
(the day you let go and give in)
and take the road for Susa
and go to King Artaxerxes,
who, well-disposed, gives you a place at his court
and offers you satrapies and things like that—
things you don't want at all,
though, in despair, you accept them just the same.
You long for something else, ache for other things:
praise for the Demos and the Sophists,
that hard-won, that priceless acclaim—
the Agora, the Theatre, the Crowns of Laurel.
You can't get any of these from Artaxerxes,
you'll never find any of these in the satrapy,
and without them, what kind of life will you live?

The opening six lines describe the feeling that one is destined to be doing great things, but instead finds oneself working away without encouragement or success, and succumbing to bad habits. This could resonate with academics who perhaps entered their field of study dreaming that they'd solve the biggest open questions out there, but instead find that the reality is much harder and far less immediately rewarding.
The poem then contrasts the difficulty of this situation (in our analogy, working in academia) with the even worse choice of giving in and taking the easy option, which in the context of the poem is going to King Artaxerxes and being offered a place in his court. In our analogy, we could see this as leaving academia to work in a stable job in industry, where you will have a good income and an easy life.
The poem ends by questioning us, asking us that if we take the easy option, will we find the fulfilment we sought in the first place? And what kind of life would that be? I think these are questions that many academics have asked themselves.