Contemporary: Brad Walton

Errabat mihi qui tumente verbo
dixit splendida cuncta quae furere,
quae famam meruere sempiternam,
nisu praecipue effici molesto,
sudore immodico, fluente fletu,
necnon plurima computante mente.
namque, ut nunc scio, magna quae putantur
fiunt praecipue incitante amore.

There wandered in me one who, swelling with speech,
said that all splendid things rage,
that have merited everlasting fame,
unless especially brought to pass by troublesome exertion,
by immoderate sweat, by flowing weeping,
and with the mind counting very many things.
for, as I now know, the things which are thought great
are made especially by love inciting.

ANAS ET POETA

THE DUCK AND THE POET

Degit anas lucem quaerens in harundine plantas,
regnante in teneras indole pulsa dapes.
ast ego sumo diem quaerens sermone decorem,
indomito motu pulsus in esuriem.

A duck dwells, seeking light among the reed-plants,
delicacies reigning, her tender disposition driven away.
But I take the day, seeking ornament for speech,
hurled into hunger by an untamed impulse.

ALTER MVNDVS ET IDEM

ANOTHER WORLD AND THE SAME

Vastus inest nobis, tenues quo cingimur, orbis,
atque externa docent interiora viri.
limpida sensiferis utcunque canalibus unda
infertur, pressae nocte cientur aquae.
an tremuere cito percussi fulgure montes?

A vastness lies within us, the thin world by which we are enclosed,
and external things teach the inner parts of the man.
a clear wave into the sense-bearing channels however is borne
and waters, pressed by night, are stirred.
or did the mountains tremble, struck soon by lightning?

     contremuit parili caeca caverna sono.
horrida ut apparent densis animalia silvis,
     intima redduntur conscia bruta sui.
si patulum spolians mundum deperdet avarus,
     quae lateant in se, quomodo noscet homo?

     the blind cavern trembled with an equal sound.
as shaggy animals appear in dense woods,
     the brutes are made conscious of their innermost selves.
if the avaricious man, despoiling the wide world, wastes it,
     how shall man know what lies hidden within himself?

STVDIA

STUDIES

Anxietate studens examinis exanimatus
quid didicit? iuncti terror et error eunt.

Anxious, the student of the exam, struck senseless
what did he learn? terror and error go together.

DE NUNTIIS VITAE IN MARTE REPERTAE

ON REPORTS OF LIFE DISCOVERED ON MARS

Praebuit in caelis iam Mars vestigia vitae.
Mars tamen in terris nil nisi funus habet.

Mars already showed vestiges of life in the heavens.
Mars, however, on earth has nothing but funeral rites.

INOPIA ET COPIA

SCARCITY AND ABUNDANCE

Plures exiguo contingent aere dolores
quam tibi congestis gaudia divitiis.

More numerous pains befall with scant coin
than joys to you from heaped riches.

TEMPORA MVTANTVR: AD CVLTOREM RECTI

TIMES ARE CHANGED: TOWARD THE CULTOR OF RECTITUDE

Solus nosce tua quam sis aetate, nec omne
     quod nunc est vel erat ktema perenne fuit
virtutes proavis crebro sunt crimina natis,
     et probitas suboli culpa frequenter avo est.
Christicolum indignum vix libertate putabat
     adstinxisse Afris compede membra parens.
commoda progenies fingit mendacia, lene
     ut fluat ingrata vita soluta mora.

Know alone how old you are, nor every
     what now is or was an ktema was everlasting;
virtues in ancestors are often crimes in offspring,
     and probity in the child is frequently a blame to the grandfather.
The parent thought the Christ-devotee barely worthy
     to have his limbs stained by a chain to the Afri.
Posterity fashions convenient lies, smooth
     that an ungrateful life may flow, released from delay.

non puduit credentem aliter cruciare parentes;
     iam genitos quicquam credere saepe pudet.
nil doluit patri casus lachrimabilis hostis;
     nil dolet at suboli civis amara fames
neutrius est reverenda tibi prudentia saecli,
     o iuvenis, nimium: libera sit tua mens.

it did not shame the parents to torment one who believed otherwise;
     now the born are often ashamed even to believe anything.
the enemy’s lamentable fall pained the father not at all;
     but the bitter hunger of his offspring, a citizen, troubles him not at all.
the age’s revered prudence is for neither side to you,
     O youth, you value it too much: let your mind be free.

LAVS

PRAISE

Qui laudat, laudare solet, laudetur ut ipse.
laus effunditur ut refluat unde fluit.

He who praises is wont to be praised, that he himself may be praised.
praise is poured out so that it may reflow to the place whence it flows.

IMPERIVM OPTIMAS ET POPVLARE

IMPERIUM: TO HONOR THE BEST AND TO WIN THE PEOPLE

Mos fuerat populo titulis mulcere superbos
blanditiisque duces; iam ducibus populum.

It had been the custom for the people to mollify the proud with titles
and to flatter the leaders with blandishments; now the leaders mollify the people.

DIVINA MANDATA

DIVINE MANDATES

In tellure mori, iubet aethere vivere numen,
     quod fecit vitam, funera, caela, solum.
vix, qui iussa dei sequitur, parat unde supersit,
     et noscente malum mente tenet, quod habet.
debet, ut in terris vivat, caelestia iura
     saepe negare, polis perpetuoque mori.

It bids the numen to die in the earth, to live in the ether,
     that which made life, funerals, the heavens, the soil.
Scarcely he who follows the commands of the god prepares whence he may survive,
     and, knowing the evil, with his mind holds what he has.
He ought, that on the lands he live, to deny celestial laws
     often, to dwell in cities and to die perpetually.

DE IANI PANNONI STATVA IN HORTO BVDAPESTINENSI

ON THE STATUE OF IANUS PANNONIUS IN THE BUDAPESTINIAN GARDEN

Arcuit hic Venerem, vitavit turpe lupanar
et castae nomen virginis emeruit.
at decor est tantus, mirantibus ut sua iura
vindicet ardenti pectore spreta dea.

He kept away Venus here, shunned the shameful lupanar
and merited the name of chaste virgin.
but so great is the beauty, that, to those marveling, her rights
the spurned goddess vindicates with an ardent breast.

BELLA PLACENTALIA: AD GUSTAVVM HANSENIVM

PLACENTINE WARS: TO GUSTAV HANSEN

     Crebro supplicum tulit
virtus, nec tenuit promeritis furor
     diras invidiae manus.
o Gustave, cave! nam teneri ferox
     Warreni recipit soror
adiuratque abaci vasa per omnia
     cocturum neminem suae
pingui caseolis saeva placentulae
     ah! praestantia crustula.

     Often virtue bore the suppliants' cause
nor did madness restrain rewards from the deserving,
     the dire hands of envy. O Gustave, beware! for a fierce
     sister receives the tender Warren
and swears by the sideboard's vessels in every thing
     that she will cook no one with her own
fat little cheese-pots, the savage little tartlets'
     ah! outstanding cookies.

at nunc fama vagans tinnit in auribus
     concocti tibi frustuli,
quod calvis redolens et socolatica
     exundans opulentia
multos ambrosiam commonuit deum.
     quare bellipotens vovet
aut palmas virides, Martia praemia,
     aut ingloria funera.
retractis manicis exue bracchia.

but now wandering rumor rings in the ears
     of concocted tidbits for you,
that bald‑smelling and chocolaty
     overflowing opulence
has made many gods taste ambrosia.
     wherefore the war‑mighty one vows
either green palms, Martian rewards,
     or inglorious funerals.
with sleeves drawn back, bare your arms.

haud mitem iuvenilibus
cedet nympha flagrans viribus exitum.

the nymph, burning with strength,
will not yield a gentle end to youthful powers.

NVLLVS DISCENDI TERMINVS

NO LIMIT TO LEARNING

Vivere discendo puerilis sumitur aetas.
vivere ubi didicit, discit adulta mori.

By learning to live, boyish age is taken up.
when he has learned to live, he learns, grown, to die.

DVO VVLNERA

TWO WOUNDS

Triste quod excipimus, quamvis grave, vulnus adulti,
     imminui mulsum tempore et arte potest;
quod pueri, vibex manet haud sanabilis umquam,
     nobiscum et medio corde senescit edax.
sanatur longo vulnus maturius aevo,
     perlatumque levat pernicii seriem.
attamen immites puerile gravatur in annos,
     et nova, quae subeunt, ingravat exitia.

The wound we receive, though grievous, is an adult’s sorrow,
     it can be diminished by time and by art;
what in childhood remains a scar, never curable,
     it grows old with us and eats at the inmost heart.
A wound is healed by a long, more mature age,
     and borne on, it lightens the sequence of ruin.
Yet the savage seed of childhood weighs on later years,
     and the new evils that follow only aggravate the disasters.

THEOLOGVS ADOLESCENS

A YOUNG THEOLOGIAN

Thomae discipulus contendit in ardua Primae,
pulvere dum tenui sparsa Secunda iacet.
divam sic noscit naturam, fitque superni
conscius ingenii, nescius ipse sui.

A pupil of Thomas strives into the arduous Primae,
while the Secunda lies sprinkled with a thin dust.
Thus he comes to know the divine nature, and becomes conscious
of a supernal genius, yet ignorant of himself.

ARMATVRA MILITIS

ARMOUR OF THE SOLDIER

Horridus aeratis crustato corpore lamnis,
saevus et obductis casside luminbus,
non tegitur miles, ut defendatur ab armis,
sed turbis hominum ne videatur homo.

Horrid, with his body crusted in brazen plates,
fierce, his eyes veiled by a helmet,
the soldier is not clad so that he may be defended by arms,
but that, before the throngs of men, he not be seen as a man.

DE CERVISIA RECTE MINISTRANDA

ON THE RIGHT ADMINISTRATION OF BEER

Te, qui cervisiam cupis lagoenis
recte effundere, quam libens docebo!
adsumptum tene poculum sinistra
(aut, sis, utere dextera), deinde
inclina, precor, alteraque palma
fer zythi glaciale vas beati,
et labro calicis siti flagrantis
fundas contiguum per os liquores
lente et leniter et satis gradatim,
ne spumae saliant nimis tumentes,
neu exiles recidant micante fluctu.
mercedis quid ego docens rogabo?

To you who wish to pour beer into flagons
correctly, how gladly will I teach! Hold the taken cup in the left hand
(or, if you are, use the right), then
tilt it, I pray, and with the other palm
bring the chilled vessel of blessed zythi,
and from the lip of the goblet with thirst blazing
you pour the adjacent liquors through the mouth
slowly and gently and sufficiently by degrees,
lest the foam leap up swelling too much,
nor let the slender drops fall back with a sparkling wave. What reward do I, teaching, ask?

nil sane, nisi conteras opacam
nobiscum sale vesperam scyphoque.
et si fuderis, ut regit magister,
ista notus eris probatione
non iam discipulus timens flagellum,
sed collega comesque virque honestus,
compotor sociatus eruditae
laetantis calicis sodalitate.

truly nothing, unless you spend the dusky evening with us with salt and a cup.
and if you pour, as the master rules,
you will be known by proof—no longer a pupil fearing the whip,
but a colleague and companion and an honest man,
a compotor, joined in learned
and rejoicing fellowship of the cup.

ELECTIO

ELECTION

Optandum aut verum est, aut est optanda potestas.
vix utrum capies; ambo tenere nequis.

That which is to be wished is either true, or there is a desirable power.
you will scarcely grasp which; none can hold both.

QVAESTIO ARIVNAE AD KRISNAM

QUESTION OF ARIVNA TO KRISNA

Cum liget aeterno, bone Krisna, dolore cupido,
me desiderii solvere vincla iubes.
quod volo non igitur, sed quod decet, est quod agendum est;
at quid agam, rogo, si quod volo, Krisna, decet?

When desire binds me with eternal pain, good Krisna,
you bid me loose the bonds of desire.
That which I wish is therefore not the thing, but that which is fitting is what must be done;
but what shall I do, I ask, if what I wish, Krisna, is what is fitting?

GVSTAVVS VATES

GUSTAVUS THE POET

Scribit carmina Gus: scribit sudore fluente;
semper utrum brevis an syllaba longa rogat.

Gus writes poems: he writes with flowing sweat;
always he asks whether the short or the long syllable.

DE REGIMINE GVSTAVO COGNOSCENDO

ON LEARNING ABOUT THE REGIMEN OF GUSTAVUS

Quid petis Hansenius quaenam vitamina sumat?
promptus adest index tincta matella tibi.

What do you ask, Hansenius, which vitamins he should take?
a ready index is present — a stained little basin for you.

AD SACERDOTEM SEVERIOREM

TO THE MORE SEVERE PRIEST

Tu qua veste tegis decoratum extollis amorem,
     ast illam speciem, quam capit ipse, teris.
si tenero tenerae puer ardet amore puellae
     ingemis et multo murmure conquereris.
flammam si puero parili puer igne rependet,
     praecipitem flammis te rapit ira suis.

You, with what garment you clothe and exalt adorned Love,
     but that very aspect which he himself takes you mar.
if a boy burns with tender love for a tender girl
     you groan and with much murmur complain.
if a boy with like fire repays the boy’s flame,
     his wrath with its flames sweeps you headlong away.

si iuvenem dulces in musas concitat ardor,
     musas ore gravi vana fuisse refers.
atque senem, gaudens si laudat sauvia rerum,
     omnia confestim praeteritura mones.
sic divum vario consuetum erumpere vultu
     ipse velis uno continuisse modo.

if ardor urges a youth toward the sweet Muses,
     with a solemn mouth you call the Muses vain.
and if, rejoicing, he praises the old man for the sweet things of life,
     you warn that all things will soon pass away.
thus, you would have the gods, accustomed to break forth with varied countenances,
     yourself wish to have contained them in one single mode.

celsus enim genitos terra contemnis amores,
     et tibi solus amor noscitur aetherius:
abstractus rebus, nostroque alienus ab orbe,
     multis ille viris nil nisi nomen erit.
quem poterunt forsan, sed vix, accedere summum,
     non nisi primus erit cognitus inferior.
solus enim tetigit nitidi sublimia caeli,
     qui solido longam cepit ab orbe viam.

for you, lofty, scorn loves born of earth,
     and to you alone is love known as aetherial:
withdrawn from things, and alien from our orb,
     to many that man will be nothing but a name.
whom perhaps, but scarcely, the highest may be able to approach,
     he will be known first only to the lower.
for alone he touched the sublime heights of the shining heaven,
     who from the solid sphere took a long way off.

"Hic" ais, "errasti. te fugit quomodo distent
     iste protervus amor sanctificansque agape."
at mihi gaudenti duo distenguentur amores,
      nobilis a foedo, vilis ab egregio;
ante tamen debes quonam mihi dicere puncto
     alter amor cesset, alter et incipiat.

"Hic" you say, "you have erred. How can that brazen love, sanctifying agape, escape you?"
     but for me, rejoicing, two loves will be sundered,
     noble from foul, base from excellent;
beforehand, however, you must tell me at what point
     one love will cease, and the other begin.

VORACIA

VORACITY

Quot iuvenum vivo flammatae numine vires,
     fortia quot variis pectora plena deis;
quanta fames pulchri, primis qui fulsit in annis,
     quantus amor veri, quantus in arte furor;
indociles quanti teneris in cordibus ignes,
      quanta molesta seni turbida saevities;
quantum glutitum est urbanae gurgite vitae,
     munere, coniugio, nexibus, aere, domo!

How many the youths, their strengths enflamed by a living numen,
     how many brave breasts full of various gods;
how great the hunger for the beautiful, those who first shone in the earliest years,
     how great the love of truth, how great the frenzy in art;
how many untamed fires in tender hearts,
      how great a troublesome, turbid savagery in the old man;
how much is swallowed in the urban gullet of life,
     by office, by marriage, by ties, by money, by house!

DE FORMOSA NIGRA

OF THE BEAUTIFUL BLACK

Flammeolis caltha Melanauga recumbit in hortis,
aurigera sicut pyxide solus onyx.

Melanauga, a little-flamed caltha, reclines in the gardens,
gold-bearing, like an onyx alone in a casket.

DE ERICO LINDRO, PRAESTANTISSIMO HOCCEII LUSORE

ON ERICO LINDRO, THE MOST OUTSTANDING HOCCEII PLAYER

Indole mirifica Lindrus decoratus et arte
     indole et arte putat carius esse lucrum.
haud tenues quaestus, haud vilem despicit urbem,
     plus quoad abnuitur, proelia cuncta negat.
certandi stimulus quondam certaminis ardor,
     nec petiit quisquam num sequeretur opes.

Lindrus, adorned by a wondrous indole and by art
     by indole and art thinks lucre to be more dear.
He scorns neither meagre quaestus, nor a base urbem,
     moreover, with a nod of denial, he refuses all proelia.
The stimulus of contest, once the ardor of certamen,
     nor did anyone seek whether opes would follow him.

nunc tamen aes inicit sacros heroibus ignes;
     imperat aes Lindro numen inane pio,
auriferum donec glacies solvatur in amnem,
     Lydia quem iactet, supprimat ille pedem.
mens igitur membris dominatur sordida pulchris;
     vincitur abiecta celsus avaritia.

but now bronze casts sacred fires upon the heroes;
     bronze commands Lindro, an empty numen to the pious,
until the golden ice be loosed into a river,
     which Lydia may vaunt, he restrains that foot.
therefore the mind, sordid, rules over fair limbs;
     lofty avarice is vanquished, cast down.

PRAECEPTORES

INSTRUCTORS

Ut doceant, alios colimus mercede magistros;
ast alios, proprias ut foveant manias.

So that they may teach, we cultivate some masters with pay;
but others, that they may foster their own manias.

IUNIA ROWLANDS CREATA VRBIS PRAEFECTA

IUNIA ROWLANDS, APPOINTED PREFECT OF THE CITY

Vrbe Torontina signatur Iunia princeps:
praefectam cives, quam meruere, parant.

In the city of Toronto Princess Iunia is appointed:
the citizens prepare as prefect the one they have deserved.

EPISTVLA TAMAGAMIENSIS: AD ALEXANDRVM SMARIVM
POETAM PRAESTANTISSIMVM

EPISTLE OF TAMAGAMIENSIS: TO ALEXANDER SMARIUS
A MOST OUTSTANDING POET

Solus hyberboreo mecum, dilecte, sub axe,
cogito te, me, nos, et nostram, Crispe, Camenam.
pallida lux lunae pleno diffunditur orbe;
silvestres reticent tenebrae; tacet algida lympha;
ad nemore occultas venti rediere cavernas.
hic volat in gyrum tempus; nova nulla putantur.

Alone with the Hyperborean axis, with me, my dear,
I think of you, of me, of us, and of our Camena, Crispe.
pallid light of the moon is poured through the full orb;
the woodland shadows are silent; the cold stream is mute;
to the grove the winds have returned to hidden caverns.
here time wheels in a circle; no new things are deemed.

sic parit, ut peperit semper sapientia terrae
saevitiesque, suos suetae depascere partus.
hic folium tepido pellectum sole virescit,
et, cum prima leves contingunt frigora ramos,
decidit arboribus, pulchro moriturque rubore.
muscam piscis edit, gracilisque ciconia piscem;
effera lynx caedit volucrem, glans plumbea lyncem;
denique homo revocatus humo fit vermibus esca.

Thus she bears, as the wisdom of the earth and savagery have always borne, accustomed to feed their own births.
Here a leaf, drawn by the warm sun, grows green,
and when the first slight colds touch the branches,
it falls from the trees, and dies with a fair redness.
A fish swallows a fly, and the slender stork a fish;
the savage lynx slays a bird, a leaden shot the lynx;
finally man, recalled to the earth, becomes food for worms.

quaelibet hic brevis est data lux, licet omnibus ire
calle suo, et iussos naturae solvere cursus.
indigenae parvis silvas coluere catervis:
integra tunc poterat consistere natio paucis.
tunc mala silvicolis suffragia nulla fuere,
quae, dum designant, aut designare videntur
consiliumque ducesque, solent disiungere cives,
nec, dum rixa furit populo, superare tyrannos.

every given light here is brief, though all may go along their own way,
and be bidden to unloose the courses of nature.
the indigenes tended the woods in small bands:
then an intact nation could stand firm with few.
then there were no evil suffrages for the foresters,
which, while they elect or seem to elect,
and council and leaders, are wont to sunder citizens,
nor, while a quarrel rages through the people, to overpower tyrants.

quisque suis vixit cunctis popularibus aequus
(vel saltem nostro quam nos sumus aequior aevo),
atque afferre sacrum potuit, quae sensit, ad ignem,
quo licuit causas disceptare omnibus omnes,
et, nisi consensu, statuebant nulla sodales.
musa fuit simplex, tamen et concinna valensque,
et, quamvis ars saepe brevis, sed numine plena,
et quae digna fuit celebraret mira deorum.
parvula post tamen et vaga gens quam victa recessit
gentibus armigeris, populis adiunctaque vastis,
mancipio fundos exauxit, et oppida vulgo,
turba canora tumet, fit musa superba, tametsi
quam prius eximia longe subtilior arte.

each lived for his own, equal to all the peoples
(or at least more equitable to our age than we are),
and could bring what he perceived as sacred to the fire,
by which it was permitted that all plead causes before all,
and no comrades would decide anything without consent.
muse was simple, yet fitting and potent,
and, although art was often slight, yet full of divine will,
and celebrating the marvelous things of the gods that were worthy.
small thereafter and wandering was the people which, conquered, withdrew
to armed nations, and peoples linked to vast realms,
by servitude estates grew, and towns in common,
the tuneful throng swelled then, the muse grew proud, although
far subtler than before in exceptional art.

namque ubi nascuntur rex, miles, leno, sacerdos,
divitis et sumptus violatus solvit egenus,
tunc celebris vates heroica carmina fingit;
alliciunt nitidae mentem spectacula scenae;
millibus et taedis ingens radiantibus aula
multisono doctas concentu recreat aures.
quae nos delectant artis miracula, quaeque
curis corda levant, acuunt rationis acumen,
et motas summum mentes rapiunt ad olympum,
splendida corrupti sunt corporis ulcera tantum,
indicia et dirae lethalis forsan, hydropis.

for when are born king, soldier, leno, priest,
and the needy man, violated by a rich man's expense and outlay, pays,
then the celebrated vates shapes heroic carmina;
the shining spectacula of the scena entice the mind;
and the vast aula with thousands and radiant taedae
refreshes taught ears with many-sounding concentus.
which miracles of ars delight us, and which
raise hearts from cares, sharpen the acumen of reason,
and snatch upborne mentes to the highest Olympum,
only the splendid ulcers of a corrupt body remain,
perhaps signs and deadly indicia of dire hydropis.

DE VITA VIRTUTIS

ON THE LIFE OF VIRTUE

Terrestris vitae quae debeat esse requiris
     aut soleat recto propria forma viro?
institui dura multos probitate per annos,
     virtutis tardo culmen adire gradu,
sustentare bonum, et viridi iam flore iuventae,
     iusta tenens vitae pro ratione mori.

Do you ask what terrestrial life ought to be,
     or is a man wont in his proper upright form to be?
to be established through many years by stern probity,
     to attain the summit of virtue by a slow step,
to sustain the good, and, already in the green bloom of youth,
     holding justice as the rule of life, to die.

HODIERNI MVSIS AMICI

FRIENDS OF TODAY'S MUSES

Qui nunc vult resonis se consociare Camenis
est generis consors alterutrius homo:
ingeniosus enim, doctrina qui caret omni,
edoctusve, omni qui caret ingenio.

Who now would fain unite himself with the sounding Muses
is partner of either sort of man:
for the ingenious man lacks every doctrina,
and the instructed man lacks all ingenium.

LAMENTATIO MAGI

LAMENTATION OF THE MAGUS

Heu ferrumine calcis atque harenae
priscae clauditur arboris foramen,
umbrosis aditus quod inferorum
silvis exhibuit, quod et iuvantes
fessum duxit ad astures, leaenas
noctuas, lepores, lupos, viverras,
serpentinaque quae ferunt salutem.
quare, faticini, valete, amici!
terrarum valeat paternus orbis.

Alas, by the iron of lime and ancient sand
is the hollow of the tree shut up,
which gave shady approaches to the nether
woods, which also, as helpers, led the weary
to stags, lionesses,
night-owls, hares, wolves, genets,
and the serpents that bring health.
wherefore, little toils, farewell, friends!
may the paternal orb of the lands fare well.

obstructo veteris loco meatus,
deflenti novus est mihi petendus.

with the passage of the ancient place obstructed,
a new way must be sought by me, lamenting.

PROCESSIO ARTIVM

PROCESSION OF THE ARTS

Lauti simioli, qui chromigeras colit arces,
tollitur ars hominis celsius ingenio.

The sleek little apes, who dwell in purple-bearing citadels,
man's art is raised higher than his genius.

TIMOR MORTIS

FEAR OF DEATH

Interitum ferimur portantem ignota pavere:
haec speciosa feri est reddita causa metus.
falso: nam fragiles et cognita fata tremamus,
ut metuit notum debita praeda lupum.

We are said to dread destruction, to fear what is unknown:
this specious claim has been made the cause of fear.
Falsely: for we, fragile, tremble at fates that are known,
as owed prey fears the wolf it knows.

COGNITIO VITAE, SIVE ASEITAS HVMANA

COGNITION OF LIFE, OR HUMAN ASEITY

Credit quisque suo, quae fecerit, omnia nisu
     se fecisse, suo turgidus ingenio.
quisque sua virtute, suis et viribus omne,
     quod manibus teneat, se meruisse putat.
pellit ab oblito prudentem pectore patrem,
     qui moriens dederat praedia, limen, opes;
et dominum, primus qui dixit, "Do tibi munus,
     namque in te certam colloco, tiro, fidem;
et sponsam, sterili quae saepe labore dolentem
     confirmans lassum fovit amore virum;
et cives, qui, quod placuit genus aut cutis, illi,
     quae rapuere aliis, commoda tradiderant.

Everyone credits to his own effort the things he has done,
     thinking that he made them by his own striving, swollen with his own genius.
Each believes by his own virtue, by his own viribus, to have deserved all,
     that which he holds in his hands, he deems his due.
He drives from memory the prudent father from the breast,
     who dying had given lands, the threshold, and opes;
and the master, the first who said, "I give you a munus,
     for in you, rookie, I place certain trust;"
and the bride, who often sorrowing from sterile labore
     strengthening the weary husband cherished him with love;
and the citizens, who, whatever pleased their genus or cutis, to those
     who had seized from others, had delivered the commoda.

usus nil docuit. blandi fallacia saecli
quemque docet vitam mente tenere suam.

experience taught nothing. the flattering deceit of the age
teaches each to hold life as his own in his mind.

IOHANNES CALVINVS

JOHN CALVIN

Quis temere reprobet Calvinum, tristia quamvis
     sint sua terribili caela referta metu?
collocet humanis quis spem virtutibus almam,
     qualis erat magno debita certa deo?
quis plerosque rudi terra dignetur obortos,
     qui videant summi regna beata poli?

Who would rashly reproach Calvin, though his own skies
     be filled with dreadful fear?
Who would set in human virtues a nourishing hope,
     such as was rightly owed to the great God?
Who would deem most of those sprung from rude earth worthy,
     to behold the blessed realms of the highest heaven?

quis postremo audax nos iuret libera velle?
quis fidenti animo ducere fata neget?

who, finally, audacious, would swear that we wish to be free?
who, with a trusting mind, would deny to lead our fates?

VERITAS RELIGIONIS

TRUTH OF RELIGION

Consistit pietas in erudita
fluxarum ratione fabularum,
quae mentes hominum parant et aptant
finito generi modoque vitae.
nec stant numina: fabulae novantur
versis condicionibus vigendi.
et si concipitur salubre numen,
vivunt terrigenae beatiores;
nam firmas superi dedere vires,
ut duro paterentur orta fato.

Piety consists in the learned reason of mutable fables,
which ready and fit the minds of men
to the finite genus and mode of life.
nor do the divinities stand still: the fables are renewed
with the turned conditions of living.
and if a salutary numen is conceived,
earth-dwellers live more blessed;
for the gods above gave firm powers,
that they might endure what fate, harsh, had brought forth.

sed languent miserabili dolore
non iam dispositi favente divo,
cum servant nitiods diu statuti
thesauros moderaminis potentes
et plenos dominatione ritus.
marcescunt lacrimabiles ut umbrae,
aut ardent cacodaemonum furore:
namque quae stabiliverant proavos
fabellae suboli tulere nervos.
ergo religionis omne verum
non sacrae specie locutionis,
sed florente latens require vita.

but they languish in miserable grief
no longer ordered by a favouring divinity,
when long they keep bright, established
the treasures of potent moderation
and rites full of domination.
they wither, tearful as shadows,
or blaze with the fury of cacodaemons:
for the tales which had fixed their forebears
brought no sinews to the offspring.
therefore all truth of religion
is not in the sacred guise of locution,
but life, flourishing and hidden, must be sought.

EPITAPHIVM NICOLAE

EPITAPH OF NICOLAUS

Elingui miseris tumulo deploror amicis
     praecipitis subita mortis adempta manu.
multa Acherontis aquae sociis rapuere loquenda,
     ultimus ut caderet, lite manente, dies;
laetificis doctam musis traxere sodalem,
     parturumque tulit Tartarus ingenium.
sic ego, dum solvat perplexae retia vitae
     nostraque multipotens expleat orsa deus.

Elingus, by wretched friends bewailed at the tomb,
     snatched away by the sudden hand of swift death.
The waters of Acheron have borne off much that comrades have to tell,
     so that his last day fell while the quarrel remained;
The joyful Muses have drawn off a companion learned in the arts,
     and Tartarus has carried away a genius about to bring forth.
Thus I, until the all‑powerful god unloose the nets of tangled life
     and fulfill the things begun, lament.

AD ERVDITISSIMVM HORTVLANVM DOVGLAM CHAMBERS
DE EIVS FVNDO

TO THE MOST LEARNED GARDENER DOUGLAS CHAMBERS
ON HIS ESTATE

Huic aliquid maius specie et splendore vireto est,
     quo speciosius est splendidiusque nihil.
namque aliquid veri digesta panditur herba,
     facundusque refert intima nostra lapis.
haec retegunt totam spatianti iugera mentem,
     quidquid et occultum corde, recludit ager.

To this there is something greater in appearance and green splendor,
     by which nothing is more beautiful or more splendid.
For some portion of truth, digested, is laid open by the herb,
     and the eloquent stone reports our innermost things.
These uncover the whole mind of him walking across the acres,
     and whatever is hidden in the heart the field reveals.

quaelibet ornatis fortuna ostenditur arvis,
     quolibet atque brevi gramine vita statu.
hic invisa monet naturae linea, flexis
     recte quemque viis ad sua fata vehi.
indicat extremo monumenti gloria xysto
     metam supremo limite constitui.

any fortune is shown in ornamented fields,
     and life is set on whichever and on short grass.
here the hateful line of nature warns, the paths bent
     that each rightly be borne to his own fates.
the glory of the xystus points out at the far end of the monument
     that a goal was placed at the supreme boundary.

ut sanctae rutilam pacis deducit ad aram,
     infima frondiferum vota resignat iter.
semotis resono calamis sermone coaxans
     rana viros iubet haud invenienda sequi.
Pythius auriferis telis inseminat arva:
     autus enim vitae est sensus origo novae.

as he leads the ruddy splendor of holy peace to the altar,
     he unseals the lowest path of the leaf-bearing vows.
with reeds pushed aside, resounding and croaking in speech,
     the frog bids men follow a way not to be found.
Pythius sows the fields with golden shafts:
     for indeed perception is the origin of new life.

fleti marmoreum socii colit umbra canistrum;
     Petrus rus aperit, dum latet ipse lepus.
vivit anas vacuus geniali lance ferendus:
     mors igitur placida vadit in Arcadia.
attamen incisae duro granite coronae
     mente renascendi semen inesse monet.

the companion's shade tends the marble basket of weeping;
     Peter unveils the rural boar, while the hare itself lies hidden.
the empty duck lives, to be borne on a genial dish:
     therefore placid death journeys into Arcadia.
yet crowns incised in hard granite
     warn that the seed of rebirth is present in the mind.

ACTIO ET RENVNTIATIO: SYLLOGISMVS

ACTIO ET RENUNCIATION: SYLLOGISM

Ille nihil fecit, nullo qui tempore legit,
cui, nisi deposuit, lectio nulla fuit.
ille igitur numquam sive ingens sive pusillum
fecit, qui nullo tempore deposuit.

He did nothing, he who read at no time,
for to him, unless he set it aside, reading was nothing.
therefore he never did, whether great or small,
who at no time set it aside.

DE SCVLPTO NAZISTAE VVLTV

ON THE SCULPTED VISAGE OF THE NAZIST

Caeca superstitio. vehemens sine mente voluntas.
partibus humanis expoliatus homo.

Blind superstition. a vehement, mindless will.
a man stripped of human parts.

MORTIS BENEFICIVM: AD ALBVM

THE BENEFIT OF DEATH: TO ALBUS

Mors est, vipereo cuius lux mellea morsu est,
     quaeque ornat vitam squaliditate sua.
pulchra iuvant magis et volumus magis, Albe, iuvari,
     pulchra quod effugiunt, nosque quod auferimur.
siccine deformis nobis et sordida vita
     quod procul interitus pectore sensus abest?

Death is — whose light is a viperous, honeyed bite,
     and which adorns life with its own squalor.
Beautiful things please more, and we more desire to be helped, Albe,
     because the beautiful flee, and we are what is carried away.
Is life therefore so deformed and sordid to us
     that the sense of death is far absent from the breast?

AD IANUM T., AMANTEM MALE PROFICIENTEM

TO IANUS T., A LOVER MAKING LITTLE PROGRESS

Hoc tibi, cum venerem sumis, phantasma recurrit:
est tecum in tremulo, Iane, puella toro.

This phantasm returns to you when I come:
there is with you on the trembling couch, Iane, a girl.

EPITAPHIVM ARMENTARII

EPITAPH OF THE HERDSMAN

"Corpus deserti ne sumant aequora campi!"
     edita erat tenui maesta loquela sono.
nam iuvenis tristi quaerens postrema cubili,
     iam moriente die mortis adibat iter.
"corpus deserti ne sumant aequora campi,
     sub strepitu venit, quo canis exululat.

"Let not the plains take the body of the deserted!"
     thus was it uttered in a thin, sorrowful tone.
for the youth, seeking a last couch for his sad bed,
     with the day already dying made ready the journey of death.
"Let not the plains take the body of the deserted,
     he came beneath the clamor at which the dog howls."

parcite vos gelidis artus componere bustis,
avia ne teneant aequora reliquias!
corpus deserti...." fugit vox, nec tamen ulla
cura fuit nobis ultima vota sequi.
exanima angusto tumulavimus ossa sepulchro.

Spare yourselves to lay your limbs on cold tombs,
let not the pathless plains hold the relics!
"the body of the abandoned...." the voice fled, yet no care was ours to follow the final vows.
lifeless, we interred the bones in a narrow sepulchre.

vasta tenent miseras aequora reliquias.

the vast aequora hold the wretched relics.

VIS FVGIENS VERBORVM

POWER FLEEING FROM WORDS

Est perplexa etiam quae audita locutio primum
lucet, et in sensus labitur ambiguos.
namque inspecta diu phrasis una scatensque vacansque
significat quidvis, omnia quaeque, nihil.

There is even that speech which, when heard, at first shines perplexing,
and slips into ambiguous senses.
for, when long inspected, a single phrasis, both springing forth and vacant,
signifies anything, each and every thing, nothing.

SAECVLO VICESIMO EXEUNTE

AS THE TWENTIETH CENTURY WAS ENDING

Quisque sui generis fiat licet indole civis,
natio sed cultu redditur omnis idem.

Let each be made of his own kind by native disposition, though a citizen,
yet every nation is rendered the same by culture.

PAPAVERA MENSIS IVLII: CARMEN SYLVIAE PLATH
LATINE VERSVM

POPPY OF THE MONTH OF JULY: A POEM BY SYLVIA PLATH
TRANSLATED INTO LATIN

Parvula tartareae, salvete, papavera flammae!
iste rubor valido nonne calore nocet?
adflatum nequeo folium tractare coruscans;
incolumis trepido lambitur igne manus.

Little Tartarean poppies of flame, hail!
does not that redness harm by its mighty heat?
I cannot blow upon nor touch the quivering leaf;
the trembling hand is licked by the fire uninjured.

lumina fulgentes delassant nostra tremores,
qui volitant, rugae sicut in ore rubent.
sanguineo referunt foedatos vulnere rictus
purpurei flores, sanguineasque stolas.
effugiunt fumi digitos.

shining lights wear out our tremors,
which flutter, the wrinkles in the mouth grow red.
they restore mouths befouled by a bloody wound
— purple flowers, and blood-stained stoles.
the fingers of smoke take flight.

ubi semina somni?
grata ubi nausea, quam capsula vestra movet?
carpere si somnum, si possem effundere sanguen!

where are the seeds of sleep?
where is the welcome nausea, which your capsule stirs?
to pluck at sleep, if I could, to pour out blood!

si possent tanto nubere labra malo;
ampulla vitrea mihi si stillare liquores
somniferi et segnes, absque colore tamen!

if lips could be wedded to so great an evil;
ampulla vitrea, would that for me it might drip liquids
somniferous and sluggish, yet without colour!

QVAEDAM ORIENTALIS DE MORTE TRACTATIO INSPECTA

A CERTAIN ORIENTAL TREATISE ON DEATH, EXAMINED

Admoneor libro sapienter ponere librum:
ullius ipse suum lemma referre negat.

I am admonished to place the book wisely:
he himself refuses to record any one’s lemma.

LAPSVS

LAPSE

Saepe gradu falsus reperit maiora petitis,
     et meliora suis praemia propositis.
perspiciuntur enim prius obcaecata ruenti,
     clarius et cursu fineque lucet iter.
nulla iam tabula, docta sed mente peragrat;
     lapsus enim scite vadere perdidicit.

Often a false step discovers greater things than you sought,
     and offers rewards better than those you had proposed.
for what is hidden from the one rushing is sooner perceived,
     and the way shines more clearly in its course and goal.
no chart now, though learned, traverses the mind;
     for the slip has wholly lost the art of going wisely.

PROELIA

BATTLES

Continuis agitur pugnis felicior actus:
nam graviora intus bella quietus obit.

A happier course is pursued amid continuous combats,
for he, tranquil within, endures the graver wars.

VALEDICTIO AD SACERDOTEM PAROCHIALEM

VALEDICTION TO THE PAROCHIAL PRIEST

"E templis" ais, o superbe mysta,
"discessisse sacris piaque gente,
est Deumque relinquere angelosque."
quanti te facis et cohortem anilem!

"You say 'From temples,' O proudly mystic,
'to have departed from sacred rites and a pious people,
is to abandon God and the angels.'"
how greatly you esteem yourself and your feeble, womanish cohort!

POSTVLATEM PARENTALE

PARENTAL PETITION

Iussit inane parens natos decernere vitam:
expertes pictam luminbus tabulam.

The empty parent commanded that life be allotted to the born:
deprived of a painted tablet for their eyes.

QVID ANGERIS?

WHY ARE YOU DISTURBED?

Incassum gelido captus formidine langues,
     frontibus incassum noxia cura sedet;
namque sub extremae caeco fundamine mentis
     sunt lapidosa boni condita tecta senis.
omnia perpessus, primo grandaevior aevo,
     ille nihil nescit, nec valet ille nihil.
omnes te ducit per casus, vulnera curat,
     concussum pectus, pace tua, renovat.

Vainly seized by icy dread he languishes,
     on his brow in vain harmful care sits;
for beneath the blind foundation of his final mind
     are laid the stony roofs of the good old man.
Having endured all things, older by the first age,
     he is ignorant of nothing, nor is he powerless in aught.
he leads you through all chances, tends wounds,
     renews the shaken heart, by your peace.

SEPVLCHRVM MVLIERIS: VERSIO CARMINIS SINENSIS
LI HO SCRIPTVM

THE WOMAN'S TOMB: A VERSION OF A CHINESE POEM
WRITTEN BY LI HO

Obducta tenebris rorales orchide guttae
     aspiciunt lachrimas surgere luminibus.
non dabitur coeptum fidi ducamus amorem,
     nec subeam caras nupta beata domos.
gramen erit cubital, frigentes pallia silvae,
     instita turbo, sonans tortile lympha decus.

Covered in darkness the dewy orchid drops
     behold tears rising to the eyes.
no begun faithful love will be granted for us to lead,
     nor shall I enter, a happy bride, the beloved home.
the grass will be of a cubit, the forest’s chilly cloaks,
     a whirlwind trampled the sward, the winding stream resounds its decus.

perpetuas vario per noctes axe morata
illum, qui cessat, iam vigil opperior.
frigore caeruleae torpente nitescere flammae
conantur. pluvias montibus Auster agit.

detained through perpetual nights on a shifting axis
I, who delay, now wakeful await him.
the blue flame, numbed by cold, strives to gleam
the South Wind drives rains upon the mountains.

VATICINATIO IVVENILIS

YOUTHFUL PROPHECY

Exigua iuvenes habitare elegimus aede.
cur ita nos? nostrum quisque poeta fuit.

We youths chose to dwell in a small shrine.
why so? each of us was a poet.

non secus everso patriae iam cogimur aere.
qui scribit versus saepe propheta fuit.

no otherwise, with the fatherland’s bronze now overturned, we are driven.
he who writes verses was often a prophet.

MVNDVS HOLOGRAPHICVS

THE HOLOGRAPHIC WORLD

Omnis uti partes in se pars implicat omnes,
     atque hologramma unum milia tota capit;
sic elemento quoque suo concluditur orbis:
     si minus intereat, maius et intereat.
ingentis minima tamen orbis sospite parte,
     an misero totus funere sospes erit?

As every part in itself implicates all the parts,
     and one hologram contains whole thousands;
thus the world too is enclosed in its own element:
     if the lesser perish, let the greater perish also.
Yet with the smallest part of a vast orb preserved,
     will the whole be saved by a wretched funeral?

DVPLEX RATIONIS INDOLES

TWO-FOLD NATURE OF REASON

Est ratio tumefacta, humilis, demissa, superba,
     imperat et paret, subditur atque regit.
imperium, nummos, munus si quaerit et artes,
     turgescit celsae vi dicionis ovans.
quodsi nosse cupit, rerum submittitur orbi,
     rebus et, ut penitus noverit, ima patet.

There is a reason swollen, humble, abased, proud,
     it commands and obeys, is subordinated and rules.
if it seeks power, money, office and arts,
     it swells exulting by the force of lofty dominion.
but if it desires to know, it submits itself to the world of things,
     and to things, so that it may know thoroughly, it is open to the lowest.

optata ingenium reddit servile potestas,
     nec petitur causa gaza petenda sua.
cognitione manens, et non moderamine, rerum,
     par submissa deo vivit Aristotelis.
quae sequitru dominae partes, ancilla revertit;
     quae petit ancillae, maxima diva redit.

Desired power renders the mind servile,
     nor is any cause sought for the treasure that must be sought for itself.
remaining in cognition, and not in the governance of things,
     an equal of Aristotle lives submissive to God.
she who follows the mistress’s part, returns a handmaid;
     she who seeks the handmaid’s, returns a greatest diva.

AD QVENDAM SCHOLAE BENEFACTOREM, QUI DONAVIT
CALVINI OPERA OMNIA

TO A CERTAIN BENEFACTOR OF THE SCHOOL, WHO DONATED
CALVIN'S COMPLETE WORKS

Te negat arbitrio libros donasse soluto
Calvinus. grates sed tibi quisque refert.

Calvinus denies that you gave the books by a free will released
yet each one gives thanks to you.

AD IVVENEM SCHOLASTICVM, QUI PROFICIENS SE PERDERE POTEST

TO A YOUNG SCHOLAR, WHO, IN ADVANCING, MAY RUIN HIMSELF

Non usque optandum est, fugiendum saepe, quod optas:
palma tibi ne sit splendida poena, cave!

What you desire is not wholly to be desired; often it must be fled, that which you long for:
beware lest the palm be to you a splendid penalty!

AD QVENDAM ANIMAE MEDICVM SEU PSYCHES IATRON
DE MORIBVS COMPVLSIS

TO A CERTAIN PHYSICIAN OF THE SOUL OR PSYCHES IATRON
ON COMPULSIVE HABITS

Mores, mota suis quos mens compellit ab imis,
     semper et adfecto cuique nocere putas.
multiplices miraeque soles exponere formae
     ut modo sint tristes, ut modo ridiculae.
hic lavat assiduus, tum lotos abluit artus,
     sanguineamque cutem deterit ipse suam.

Manners, which a mind, moved from its deepest parts, compels forth,
     and you think them ever to harm each one according to his affect.
you are wont to display manifold and wondrous forms of appearance
     so that now they are sad, now they are ridiculous.
here he washes incessantly, then bathes the limbs already bathed,
     and he rubs away his own ruddy skin.

hic penitus iussus muliebrem inducit amictum,
     et tenui peplo fortia membra tegit.
attamen ingenium laudas, quod Apollinis ictu
     artificis summum nobilis edit opus.
aut movet arcanas alios cognoscere causas
     saepius exsomnes immemoresque cibi.

here, thoroughly commanded, he puts on a muliebral robe,
     and with a thin peplos covers his strong limbs.
yet you praise the ingenium which by Apollo’s stroke
     the noble artisan brings forth as the highest work.
or he stirs others to learn hidden causes,
     often sleepless and forgetful of food.

numquid quae celebras et quae tu despicis acta
     uno largifico surgere fonte tenes?
talia sunt, quamvis subtili mente coacta,
     haud ratione illud reiicienda tibi.
mira praeteritis pollentes indole saeclis
      inspicias: multis mens violenta fuit.

Do you think that the acts you celebrate and those you despise
     you hold to spring from one bountiful fountain?
Such are they, though driven by a subtle mind compelled,
     not to be cast off by reason in that regard.
Behold wondrous qualities prevailing in ages past:
     in many, the mind was violent.

Newtonus rerum structuram aenigmate captus
     restituit mundos et nova iura dedit.
perspicuum flagrans sermonem Vindobonensis
     doctos arte nova disserere instituit.
Sylvia scribendo fertur placasse furores,
     placando lyricos et renovasse modos.

Newton, seized by the enigma of the structure of things,
     restored worlds and gave new laws.
the clear, blazing discourse of the Viennese
     began to instruct the learned to discourse by a new art.
Sylvia is said to have soothed rages by writing,
     placating the lyric poets and to have renewed the modes.

vatibus his licuit numquam spectata tueri,
his aperire datum est clausa, deosque sequi.
vulnere sic animae procedit tanta potestas;
tantum in stultitia mentis acumen inest.

to these poets it was permitted to behold what had never been seen,
to them it was given to unclose the closed, and to follow the gods.
thus from the wound of the soul so great a power proceeds;
so much acumen dwells in the folly of the mind.

CONSILIVM

COUNCIL

Si quis te moneat, debes inquirere quaenam
     abdita causa sagax urgeat officium.
hic monet, ut sibi de propriis persuadeat, ille
     ut celebret vitam laudibus ipse suam.
hortator de se plerumque profatur, et ad se:
     aures qui dabit, haud ipse, sed alter, erit.

If anyone advises you, you ought to inquire what hidden cause keenly urges the duty.
     This one advises that he may persuade himself about his own affairs, that one
     that he may celebrate his life with praises himself. The encourager mostly speaks of himself, and to himself:
     the ears that will be given will not be his own, but another’s.

AD ERICVM LIVONIVM POETAM EXIMIVM

TO ERICUS LIVONIUS, AN EXCELLENT POET

Tu, qui dicebas (nego te iactasse) beatum
     numquam blandiloquam te superasse Cyprin,
tandem purpureo iacuisti captus Alexi,
     nec poteras facilem corripuisse fugam.
te, miser, Idalius tantum non obruit aestus,
     cum placuit lachrimis ultor ephebus herae.
non ergo Hippolyto surgunt fatalia soli
     aequora, non soli belua tranat aquas.

You, who used to say (I deny that you vaunted it) yourself happy
     that you never outdid Cyprin in blandiloquence,
at last you fell prostrate, caught by purple Alexi,
     nor could you curb an easy flight.
You, wretch, the Idalian tide almost overwhelms you,
     when the avenging ephebe of Hera found delight in your tears.
Therefore the fatal seas do not rise only for Hippolyto alone,
     nor does a single beast swim the waters alone.

at miserans, felix, tibi parsit diva, superstes,
     quae pavido dextram traxerat ante necem.
an placidae dubitas Veneri persolvere grates?
      ipse ego, quod vivis, non male gratus ero,
ut lepido festos teneas sermone gregales,
     et referas miris acta pericla modis.

but the goddess, pitying, fortunate, spared you, surviving,
     who had before withdrawn her right hand from the fearful death.
or do you hesitate to pay thanks to placid Veneri?
     I myself, because you live, will not be ill-grateful,
that you may hold festive meetings with charming speech,
     and recount deeds performed in wondrous, perilous modes.

MAGNAS ET POETA

GREAT THINGS AND THE POET

Magnas est auri magnes, et nomine caeco,
illius obscuras atque opus edit opes.
vates vas auri non est, et nomine claro,
et parit illustrem nil nisi fama famem.

Great is the magnet of gold, and blind in name,
it brings forth dark riches and yields its wealth.
The poet is not a vessel of gold, nor famous in a bright name,
and he begets nothing illustrious except that fame begets hunger.

THRENODIA IN PUELLVLAM INTEMPESTIVE DEFVNCTAM

THRENODY ON A LITTLE GIRL WHO DIED UNTIMELY

Corporis parvi properante gressu
et fuga plantae choreas agentis
funebris notae stupefecit omnes
arca puellae.

The girl's chest astonished everyone by the little body's hastening step
and the sole's flight, driving funereal dances well-known
about the girl.

quae suo celsas resonavit aulas
Marte, et extremo latitans vireto
intulit bellum propriamque tela
torsit in umbram.

who with her own Mars resounded lofty halls
and, lurking in the utmost verdure,
brought war and hurled her own weapons
into shadow.

languidos glaucae pepulit lacunae
anseres fusas viridi nivosam,
cum legunt auras, onus exuentes
caespite nubes;

the languid geese the gray‑green pool has driven off
scattered upon the green, snow‑white turf,
when they beat the airs, casting off the burden of sod
the clouds;

"pro" reclamarunt "dolor!" anserine,
"pellit invicta dominella virga
mellei sub sole flagrante amoena
somnia pomi."

"for," they shouted back, "pain!" goose-like,
"the unconquered little mistress with a rod
drives away the pleasant dreams of the honeyed apple
under the blazing sun."

aes sonat. cedit generosa pompa.
sanguinis iuncti veneramur agmen
et verecundos taciti sepulchri
flemus honores.

bronze rings. the noble pomp yields.
we venerate the blood-joined procession
et silent, modest of the sepulcher we bewailed honors.

MYTHI

MYTHS

Quod veteres memorant fabellae, non fuit umquam.
perpetuo tamen est. perpetuo fuerit.

What the ancients recount as a little fable never was.
yet it is perpetual. may it be perpetual.

OBLECTAMENTA

AMUSEMENTS

Hic bona dulciloquis mensae partitur amicis;
hic nitidam scenam celebrat; comitante frequentes
hic domina saltus; hic multa nocte tabernas,
dum socii rauco modulantes cantica plausu
pocula plena ioco desiccant. lusibus acres
oblectat genitor pueros; sermone maritus
horas ante focum lentas cum coniuge fallit;
narrat avus parvis elapsa nepotibus aeva.
hic clausis folio decumbens orbibus errat
mente hominis fictis; concentu mergitur amplo
hic tenui disco; pictae splendore tabellae
hic stupet; hic precibus delassat caela statutis;
carminbus studet hic; sudans hic carmina fingit.

Here the host shares the good things of the table with sweet‑tongued friends;
here he celebrates the polished scene; with frequent companions
here the mistress attends the dances; here through many a night the taverns,
while companions, chanting songs with hoarse voice, with applause
dry up cups full of jest. With keen games the father
entertains the boys; by conversation the husband
cheats the slow hours before the hearth with his wife;
the grandfather tells to little grandchildren the years that have slipped away. Here, reclining with pages closed, he wanders
in circles of an invented mind; immersed in a great chorus
here he is plunged; here with a thin disk; at the splendor of painted
tablets here he is astonished; here by prayers he wears out heaven’s decrees;
here he applies himself to songs; here, sweating, he fashions verses.

quisque sibi prohibet terrores mente repressos,
quique patent animo, vastos defendit abyssos.

Each one forbids to himself terrors suppressed in the mind,
and he who lays them open to his soul defends the vast abysses.

TSERNOBYLVM: POST DECEM ANNOS

CHERNOBYL: AFTER TEN YEARS

Iam redit eversam longaeva superstes ad urbem,
     ut cor postremis exsatiat lachrimis.
tot periisse dolet iuvenes, totidemque perire;
     conqueritur solos iam superesse senes.
cernit ubique vias humana gente relictas;
     conspicit horrentes fronde nocente lares.

Now the aged survivor returns to the toppled city,
     that her heart may be sated with last tears.
she grieves that so many young have perished, and that as many are perishing;
     she laments that only the old remain alive now.
she sees everywhere roads left by the human race;
     she beholds homes bristling, their foliage grown noxious.

haerent parietibus dolor et morbosa ruina;
labentis vacuum stat penetrale domus.

grief and morbid ruin cling to the walls;
the vacant penetrale of the tottering house stands.

DOMVS CERVINAE BALNEAE PENSILIVM LAVDES

PRAISES OF THE SUSPENDED BATHS OF THE HOUSE OF CERVINA

Lascivas repeto pluvias lepidosque vapores,
     quos celebrat lento nuda iuventa pede.
indigus exlusus fervente diutius imbre,
     nunc peperi tamen aes; aes reseratque fores.
ah, tessellata qualis miser aede carebam,
     candida qua densis forma rigatur aquis!

I recall wanton rains and the lepid vapours,
     which naked youth celebrates with a slow foot.
indigus, shut out longer by the burning shower,
     now nevertheless I have procured bronze; bronze unlocks doors.
ah, what a tessellated hall I, wretched, lacked,
     where a fair statue is bedewed by dense waters!

quodlibet hic Paphiis florescit semen in arvis
     aspicies felix, forsitan atque leges.
pallenti nitidos hic marmore porrigit artus
     albus, et ardentes concutit igne comas;
nec stat, ut ante, sui dubio fiducia vultu:
     regnum iam sentit non prius esse suum.
obducit rapidis acta subtilia lymphis
     sinensis spuma membra luente Venus;
pulchrior at Cypria, sexu quo natus eodem,
     et ferus ut pupae praeditus ore puer.

whatever seed flourishes here in Paphian fields
     you shall behold, lucky one, perhaps and gather.
here she offers gleaming limbs to pallid marble,
     white, and shakes her blazing hair with fire;
nor does confidence stand, as before, in a face doubtful of itself:
     she now feels the kingdom is not hers as it once was.
Venus, having been anointed, veils her fine limbs
     with the shining foam of swift waters;
but the Cyprian more beautiful, by whom he was born of the same sex,
     and the boy, fierce, endowed with a child's mouth like a puppet.

balnea celsus arabs per tota vagatur ocellis,
     atque cupidinibus pascua grata petit.
"talis" ait, "iustis tribuenda corona, prophetae
     deliciisque frequens sic paradisus erit."
se credit fontem viventis adire liquoris
     Isacides, aliis vividus ipse liquor.
ut superis mediae tenebris perfundit opacos
     praecipiti noctis rore procella sinus,
sic formosa niger teretis per corpora levi
     flumine gavisas pectoris urget aquas.

a lofty Arab wanders through the baths with roaming glances everywhere,
     and seeks pastures pleasing to his desires.
"Such," he says, "a crown to be bestowed on the righteous, (for) prophets;
     and thus, frequent in delights, shall be paradise."
the Isacides believe themselves to approach the fountain of living water,
     the very stream itself lively to others.
as a squall drenches the shadowy hollows with the headlong dew
     of the middle of night,
thus the dark, beautiful one, by a smooth, gentle river through rounded bodies,
     presses waters that delight the breast.

plurima frondoso licet absit saecula luco,
     it pythone tamen iam comitante vias.
expositi si non animo, tum corpore, praestant
     hic vere nuda simplicitate viri.
hic nihil obtegitur: manifestum immane pusillo est
     organon, ingenti nec latet exiguum.

Although very many ages may be absent from the leafy grove,
     yet it goes the ways with Python now accompanying.
if not exposed in spirit, then in body they here excel
     truly men naked in simplicity.
here nothing is concealed: a monstrous organ is manifest to the tiny
     and the small does not escape the notice of the great.

hic et saepe teres nudato vertice membrum
     molle redundantis pellis acumen adit.
quae fugiente sagax incidit corpore vita
     fabellas memorant signa diserta suas.
tegmine fallacis quae dissimulatur amictus,
     detegitur positis vera figura dolis.

here too, often the smooth member, with its crown bared,
     the soft skin, overflowing, approaches the point.
which, shrewd, as life flees, falls upon the body;
     learned signs recite their little tales.
the covering of deceit, which is disguised by its cloak,
     is uncovered, the true figure revealed when trickery is laid aside.

hic et saepe vetus rerum subvertitur ordo,
     censet enim normis flumen honesta novis.
hic aliquando potens rex declaratur egenus,
     hic solido sceptri pondere gaudet inops.
hic speciosa perit divi persona superbi,
     hic monstratur homo corpore quisque suo.

here too often the old order of things is overturned,
     for one judges the stream honorable by new norms.
here at times a once-powerful king is proclaimed needy,
     here the impoverished one rejoices in the solid weight of the sceptre.
here perishes the splendid persona of the proud divinity,
     here every man is revealed in his own body.

DIES HIEMALIS

WINTER DAY

Nil me nunc nisi sol iuvat, aurae cumque reflexis
fulgenti radiis incaluere nive.
sic natura excors, ignorans omnia, sanat
gnara quae fiunt vulnere mente virum.

Nothing now delights me but the sun, and when the breezes with their reflected
shining rays have warmed the snow.
thus nature, unseeing, ignorant of all, restores,
knowing the things that are done to a man's mind by a wound.

HYAENA: CANTIO GENTIS YORVBA

HYAENA: SONG OF THE YORUBA PEOPLE

En male compta, rapax, deglutit hyaena cruentos
     involvente cibos non sine fasciculo.
faucibus exitio stillantibus, acta perenni
     esurie matrem non sine prole vorat.
noctivaga et valga est venatrix, cara propago
     mactatrix summi sanguinolenta dei.

Ill-combed, rapacious, the hyena gulps down bloody
     foods, wrapping them not without a little bundle.
with jaws dripping destruction, driven by perennial
     hunger she devours a mother not without her offspring.
night-roving and voracious is she a huntress, dear progeny-
     slayer, bloodstained scourge of the highest god.

DIVINI AFFECTVS

DIVINE AFFECTION

Odit amatque deus, bonitate redundat et ira:
haec scriptura refert, testis et usus adest.
affectus sed uter statuet mortalia fata?
divum postremo pectus habebit uter?

God both hates and loves, he overflows with goodness and with anger:
this writing reports it, witness and experience are present.
but which affect will ordain mortal fates?
which breast of the gods will at last possess it?

primus amor fuerat, fueritque amor ultimus. omnes
ingenii motus urget et explet amor.
si deus odit, amor fons est et finis, amandi
et repetet formas ortus amando furor.

first love had been, and will be the last love. all
the motions of genius love urges and fills.
if god hates, love is the source and the end of loving,
and passion, by loving, will repeat the forms of origin.

APPROPINQVATIO AD ABYSSVM

APPROACH TO THE ABYSS

Mors adit. orbis abit. ruit in nihil omne.

Death approaches. The orb departs. All rushes into nothing.

saluto
te, nihil, omne quod es. quod nihil, omne, vale!

I greet
you, nothing, all that you are. that nothing, all, farewell!

DEVS MEDICVS

GOD THE PHYSICIAN

Innatum in nostra vulnus deus indole sanat.
et merito: vulnus qui dedit, ille fuit.

God heals the wound innate in our nature.
and rightly: he was the one who gave the wound.