Godfrey of Winchester: Epigrammata Historica

Antiquo Cnuth natus erat de sanguine regum,
Regibus innumeris viribus editior.
Sic insigne caput trino diademate cingit,
Dum Danos, Anglos, Northigenasque regit.
Quique cruentus erat et in hostes prædo superbus,
In sibi subjectos regis habebat opus.

Cnuth was born of ancient royal blood,
Greater than countless kings in strength.
Thus he girds his famous head with a triple diadem,
While he rules the Danes, the English, and the Northmen.
And he was bloody and proud, a plundering foe to enemies,
He held the kingly office over those subjected to him.

Mensæ sæpe suæ convivia festa relinquens,
Pauperibus monachis intererat socius.
Postposita pompa turbæ mediator egentis,
Conservus servis serviit ille Dei.
Lux postrema sibi luxit duodena Novembris,
Et postrema dies fit sibi prima dies.

Often forsaking the banquets and feasts of his table,
he associated with poor monks as a companion.
Having set aside pomp, a mediator of the needy to the crowd,
that fellow-servant served the servants of God.
The final light shone for him on 12 November,
and the final day became for him the first day.

II.De regina Emma.

2.Of Queen Emma.

Splendidior gemma meriti splendoribus Emma,
Omni qua voluit sorte beata fuit.
Hæc habuit natos reges, regesque maritos,
Regum progenie claruit egregie.
Vicit honor morum seriem qua fulsit avorum,
Vicit sermo bonus, mens pia, larga manus.

Emma, a gem more splendid by the splendors of merit,
in every lot she wished she was blessed by fortune.
She had sons kings, and husbands who were kings,
she shone preeminently by the progeny of kings.
Her honour of manners outstripped the rank in which her forebears shone,
she excelled in good speech, a pious mind, and a bountiful hand.

Dum miseros pavit, gazas super astra levavit,
Cultrix justitiæ serviit ecclesiæ.
Exiit avita sumpta de funere vita,
Sex de Marte dies, læta secuta dies.

While she fed the wretched, she lifted treasures above the stars,
A tiller of justice, she served the church.
She departed, her ancestral life taken at the funeral,
Six days from Mars, a joyful day followed.

III.De Eaduardo rege.

3.Of King Eaduard.

Eadwardus, probitate potens, pietate verendus.
Seque suosque regens, rex erat egregius.
Formosam faciem, procerumque corpus habebat,
Lætitiam vultus, moribus exuperans.

Eadward, powerful in probity, revered for piety.
And ruling himself and his own, he was an outstanding king.
He possessed a handsome face and a tall, stately body,
a countenance of joy, excelling in manners.

Ejus opes magnæ, nec earum novit abusum,
Et dives cunctis et sibi pauper erat.
Non bello, sed pace, suos exterruit hostes,
Præsumpsit pacem rumpere nemo suam.
Quinque dies anni referebat janua Jani,
Cum rex egrediens carnea templa finit.

His wealth was great, nor did he know their abuse,
And rich to all and poor to himself he was.
Not by war, but by peace, he struck terror into his enemies,
He presumed that no one would dare to break his peace.
The gate of Janus counted five days of the year,
When the king, departing, put an end to his fleshly temples.

IV.De regina Edida.

4.On Queen Edida.

Nobilitas patrum te magnificavit, Edida,
Tu quoque magnificas regia sponsa patres.
Multa tibi species fuit, et sapientia multa,
Cultus honestatis sobrietasque comes.
Sidera, mensuras, abacum, monochordon, et artem,
Discendique modos, grammaticamque doces.

The nobility of your fathers magnified you, Edida,
You likewise magnify your royal fathers, bride.
Much beauty was yours, and much wisdom,
The attire of honesty and sobriety as companion.
You teach the stars, measures, the abacus, the monochord, and art,
And the modes of learning, and grammar you teach.

Notio linguarum linguas diffundere novit,
Et morum probitas explicat ora tibi.
Urebat binis sol egoceronta diebus,
Cum tu deposito pondere carnis abis.

The knowledge of languages knows how to spread languages,
And the probity of manners displays a countenance to you.
The sun was scorching in two self-exalting days,
When you depart with the weight of the flesh laid aside.

V.De rege Gilielmo.

5.On King Gilielmo.

Regnum, forma, genus, cor, dextra, facetia, virtus,
Non donant vitam, rex Gilielme, tibi.
Succubuisse tibi reges populosque coegit
Insita vis, te mors succubuisse tibi.
Præpollens opibus latissima regna tenebas,
Nunc opibus nudum te domus arcta tenet.

Kingdom, rank, birth, heart, right hand, wit, virtue,
Do not give life to you, King William.
An implanted force forced kings and peoples to lie beneath you,
Death has lain beneath you.
Surpassing in wealth you held the broadest realms,
Now a narrow house holds you, stripped of riches.

Múchus, perjurus, fur, raptor, prædo, tyrannus,
Te vixisse diu, non doluere mori.
Justitiæ facies erepto judice marcet,
Fracta gemit virtus, pax fugitiva latet.
Ipse novem de mense dies Septembris habebas,
Et tibi subtrahitur quod decimare queas.

Muchus, perjurer, thief, raptor, brigand, tyrant,
They lamented that you lived long; they do not mourn your death.
The face of Justice, the judge having been snatched away, withers,
Broken, virtue groans, elusive peace lies hidden.
You yourself had nine days in the month of September,
And what you could tithe is taken away from you.

VI.De Mathilda regina.

6.On Queen Mathilda.

Consilii virtus, decor oris, gratia verbi,
Gloria regnorum, posteritatis honor,
Te, regina, levant, rex, dux, comes amplius, ille
Composuit capiti qui diadema tuo.
Germanos Morinosque duces a patre trahebas,
Reges Francorum dat tibi mater avos.
Rex hostes bellando suos, tu pace tenebas,
Et tua pax bello constitit utilior.

The virtue of counsel, the beauty of countenance, the grace of speech,
the glory of realms, the honor of posterity,
these raise you, O queen — king, duke, count besides — he
who set the diadem on your head composed it for your brow.
You drew forth German and Morini leaders from your father,
your mother gives you as forebears kings of the Franks.
The king keeps his foes by fighting; you held yours by peace,
and your peace proved more useful than war.

Te sibi surreptam flebunt, regina Matildis,
Morte tua lapsi dives inopsque simul.
Istius vitæ lux ultima, prima Novembris,
Alterius vitæ prima, secunda tibi.

They will weep you as taken from them, Queen Matilda,
rich and poor alike fallen with your death at once.
The last light of this life, the first of November,
The first light of another life, the second for you.

VII.De archiepiscopo Lanfranco.

7.On Archbishop Lanfranc.

Vixisti, venerande pater, sapienter et æque,
Vixisti vivens, mors quoque vita tibi.
Inter divitias pauper, Lanfrance, fuisti,
Divitiis manans, pauperum amator eras.
Per te florentes artes valuere Latinæ,
Græcia de nobis ecce triumphat ovans.

You lived, venerable father, wisely and justly,
You lived while living; death too was life for you.
Among riches poor, Lanfrance, you were,
Riches overflowing, yet a lover of the poor you were.
Through you the flourishing Latin arts prevailed,
Behold Greece triumphs over us, rejoicing.

Tu Latios ortu Gallosque docendo levasti,
Te sibi primatem cardo Britannus habet.
In terra degens cúlestia mente petebas,
Exemptus terra sidera liber adis.
Sol geminos denis obsederat igne diebus,
Prompsit luna diem, nocte solutus abis.

You raised the Latins and the Gauls by teaching,
The British axis holds you as its first primate.
Dwelling on earth you sought the caelestial with mind,
Freed from earth, you go as a free one to the stars.
The sun had beset the twins with tenfold fire for days,
The moon produced the day; loosened from night, you depart.

VIII.De Walchero Dunelmensi episcopo.

8.On Walcher, bishop of Durham.

Cor sapiens, justique tenax, et gloria morum,
Mortis causa tuæ, præsul venerande, fuerint.
Invidiæ tibi barbaries, quia dispare longe
Vivebas vita, quia morum inhonesta suorum
Virga justitiæ vero dictante premebas;
Virtus est odiosa malis, correctio nequam,
Disciplina gravis semper nolentibus illam.
Nullus apud sordes mentis respectus honesti.

May a wise heart, tenacious of justice, and the glory of good manners
be the cause of your death, venerable prelate.
Let barbarity of envy be to you, because you lived afar apart from them,
because you chastised the dishonourable ways of your own
and pressed the rod at the bidding of true justice;
virtue is hateful to the wicked, correction to the base,
discipline always grievous to those unwilling of it.
There is no regard for an honest mind among squalor.

Ergo tibi nocuit fortemque bonumque manere.
Si nocuit, dico quod te super astra levavit.
Agni paschalis celebrabas gaudia festi,
Cum tu per gladios moriens, sed vivus abisti.

Therefore it harmed you to remain brave and good.
If it harmed, I say that it lifted you above the stars.
You celebrated the joys of the paschal lamb’s feast,
When you, dying by swords, yet alive, departed.

IX.Invectio in eos qui eum occiderunt.

9.Invective against those who killed him.

Scote, ubi lex vel fas? facies et forma pudoris?
Pastorem dum cædis ovis, dum filius intras
Ense profunda patris, domini per viscera servus,
Dum ferrum duras, loca, tempora, fúdera pacis,
Sanguine dum maculas, leges et jura refringis,
Omnia confundens, et tu confunderis ipse.

Scote, where is law or even divine right? the face and form of modesty?
While you slaughter the shepherd of the sheep, while you plunge the sword deep into the father’s son,
the servant through the lord’s entrails,
while you wield the iron against firm places, times, and treaties of peace,
while you stain with blood, you break laws and rights,
Confounding all things, and you yourself are confounded.

Interimens patrem, desisti filius esse;
Pastorem cædens, scis te pastoris egere.
Quodque tibi gravius veniæ venamque viamque
Obstruis ipse tibi, veniæ pereunte ministro.
Res miranda nimis, quando concordia fraudem
Educit, pax insidias, et gratia mortem.

By slaying your father, you have ceased to be a son;
Slaying the pastor, you know yourself to be without a pastor.
And what is more grievous to you — you yourself block for yourself pardon, vein, and way,
with the minister of pardon perishing.
A matter most wondrous indeed, when concord brings forth fraud,
peace breeds ambushes, and grace brings death.

Damna, pericla, necem, dum splendida facta rependunt,
Dum premitur virtus, odiis calcata malorum,
Dum cadit innocuus, ruit insons, præcipitatur
Justus in interitum, gladii perit ore sacerdos.
Quando caret venia veniam donare suetus,
Qui culpas laxare solet, moritur sine culpa.
Forsitan hanc culpam contagia prima tulerunt,
Ut sit culpa recens scelerum vindicta priorum.

Losses, perils, death, while splendid deeds are repaid,
While virtue is oppressed, trampled by the hatreds of evildoers,
While the innocent falls, the guiltless collapses, is hurled headlong,
The just is precipitated into ruin, the priest perishes by the mouth of the sword.
When pardon is lacking for him accustomed to grant pardon,
He who is wont to loosen faults dies without fault.
Perchance this guilt first bore contagious beginnings,
So that recent guilt is the vengeance for prior crimes.

Nobilis ille leo rapidorum præda leonum,
Bellorum quem fama canit, quem prædicat unum,
Virtute Herculea reges trivisse superbos;
Qui retulit patriæ bellis de mille triumphos,
Ille pater pacis, tutor fidissimus æqui,
Justitiæ virtus in quo secura quievit,
Willelmus rex, regis opus sublimiter ornans,
Infestos orbi vos toto tollet ab orbe.

That noble lion, prey to the swift lions,
Whom fame sings of in wars, whom all proclaim alone,
By Herculean virtue to have crushed proud kings;
Who brought back to the fatherland in wars a thousand triumphs,
That father of peace, the most faithful guardian of the just,
In whom the virtue of justice found secure repose,
King William, loftily adorning the kingly work,
Will clear the whole orb of enemies hostile to it.

X.De Richardo regis Willelmi filio.

10.Concerning Richard, son of King William.

Magnanimo spes laudis eras, Richarde, parenti,
Et supra fratres gloria dulcis eras.
Te mores animosque suos intrasse canebat,
Quodque suos actus effigiare queas.
Invidit vobis misere fortuna duobus,
Te tenerum florem dum rapit aura necis.

You were a hope of praise to your magnanimous father, Richard,
And above your brothers you were a sweet glory.
They sang that you had entered into his manners and his spirit,
And that you could effigy—or mirror—his very deeds.
Ill fortune begrudged you the two of you miserably,
While a breath of death plucked you, the tender flower.

Discebas cervos fragili terebrare sagitta,
Mors ausa est forti figere te jaculo.
Virgineum sidus Septembris transiit Idus,
Dum tu mane novo morte novaris homo.

You were learning to pierce deer with a brittle arrow,
Death dared to drive a strong javelin into you.
The maiden star passed the Ides of September,
While you, at the new morning, are made new by death, a man.

XI.De cúco monacho nomine Aithelrico.

11.On the cuckoo monk named Aithelric.

Ecce fatigatus diuturna nocte fuisti,
Luce expectata præditus ecce vides.
Vivens ecce diu sedisti noctis in umbra,
Nox abit, umbra fugit, mortuus ecce vides.
Sol feriens oculos, nulla te luce beavit;
Sol, solis lumen, se modo luce beat.

Behold, worn by the long night you have been,
behold, endowed with the awaited light you see the day.
Alive, behold, for a long time you sat in the shadow of night,
night departs, the shadow flees, behold you see yourself dead.
The sun striking the eyes blessed you with no light;
The sun, the sun’s light, now only by light delights itself.

Per quam musca videt, tu pridem luce carebas;
Ecce Deum per quam tu intuearis habes.
Attigerat mensem sol quinta luce Decembrem,
Te telo mortis cum ferit architenens.

By which the fly sees, you long ago lacked light;
Behold, you have God by whom you may behold.
The sun had come to the month of December with its fifth light,
when the chief executioner, wielding the weapon of death, smote you.

XII.De Wulnotho comite.

12.Concerning Count Wulnoth.

Nobilis ordo patrum, morum custodia simplex,
Regula censuræ, judicialis honor,
Corporeæ vires, animi vehementior ignis,
Wulnothum comitem magnificant pariter.
Exilium, carcer, tenebræ clausura, catenæ,
Accipiunt puerum destituuntque senem.
Nexibus humanis vinctus patienter agebat,
Divinis vinctus strictius obsequiis.

A noble order of fathers, simple guardian of morals,
the rule of censure, judicial honour,
bodial strength, a more vehement fire of the spirit,
they equally magnify Count Wulnoth.
Exile, prison, the enclosure of darkness, chains,
they receive the boy and abandon the old man.
Bound by human bonds he bore them patiently,
bound by divine bonds, more strictly, in observances.

Ver erat et Februo pisces dum sole calerent
Nono sub Herme dies fit sibi summa dies.

It was spring, and in February the fishes warmed beneath the sun,
On the ninth, under Hermes (Mercury), the day becomes for him the highest day.

XIII.De abbate Simeone.

13.On Abbot Simeon.

Vivebas, Simeon, sed et hoc in tempore vivis,
Subtractus morti vivere semper habes.
Vivebas, Simeon, Simeon venerabilis alter,
Et si non ulnis, bajulus ipse Dei.
Odisti mundum, luculenta negotia mundi,
Non tu natus ei, nec tibi natus erat.

You lived, Simeon, but even in this time you live,
Plucked away from death, you always have life.
You lived, Simeon, Simeon, another venerable one,
And if not by arms, yet yourself are a bearer of God.
You hated the world, the luculent affairs of the world,
You were not born for it, nor was it born for you.

Nec tortor carnis, carnem torquere solebas,
Justitia fervens, turpibus asper eras.
Sol per quinque dies radios tendebat in arcum,
Sex te decursis septima lux refovet.

Nor a torturer of the flesh, you were wont to twist the flesh,
Fervent in justice, you were harsh toward turpitudes.
The sun for five days bent its rays into an arch,
With six days run their course the seventh light restores you.

XIV.De Wulstano Wigornensi episcopo.

14.On Wulstan, Bishop of Wigorn (Worcester).

Vixisti semper, semper, venerande sacerdos,
Non moreris vivens, nec moriens moreris.
Tu semper puer atque senex, Wulstane, fuisti;
Relligione senex, simplicitate puer.
Contemptor laudis, laudanda sequendo beatus,
Ecclesiæ sanctæ tutor, amicus eras.

You have lived always, always, venerable priest,
You do not die while living, nor, dying, do you die.
You have ever been both boy and old man, Wulstane;
Old in religion, childlike in simplicity.
Despiser of praise, blessed in following what is to be praised,
Guardian of the holy Church, you were a friend.

Præsulis officio pastoris honore levatus,
Subjectis socius, inferior sociis.
Bis denos Janus tres hauserat urceus ignes,
Cum supra stellas, aurea stella, salis.

Raised by the honor of the prelate’s office as shepherd,
a companion to those subject to him, inferior to his peers.
The pitcher of Janus had drawn up 23 fires,
with above the stars, a golden star of the sea (salt).

XV.De Rodberto Herefordensi episcopo.

15.Of Robert, Bishop of Hereford.

Non tua te mathesis, præsul Rodberte, tuetur,
Non alios aliter dinumerans abacus.
Dives eras, sapiens, studiosus, honoris amator,
Extendere dies non tamen ista tuos.
Ecce probas mortem quod nulla scientia tollit,
Divitiæ nullæ, nullus honoris amor.

Not your mathesis, prelate Rodbert, protects you,
Nor does an abacus, numbering others otherwise.
You were rich, sapient, studious, a lover of honour,
Yet those things do not extend your days.
Behold you prove that no scientia abolishes death,
No riches, no love of honour.

Transitus iste gravis, gravis hæc mutatio carnis,
Cum caro fit vermis, vermis et ipse cinis.
Scansurum solem retinebat Carcinus ardens
Per bis quinque dies scandis ad alta tenes.

This passage of crossing is heavy, heavy this transformation of the flesh,
when flesh becomes a worm, the worm itself is also ash.
The burning Crab was restraining the sun about to mount,
for two times five days you climb and hold to the heights.

XVI.De Walchelino episcopo.

16.On Bishop Walchelinus.

Consilium, virtutis amor, facundia comis,
Walcheline pater, fixa fuere tibi.
Corrector juvenum senibusque documenta ministrans,
Exemplo vitæ, pastor utrosque regis.
Pes fueras claudis, cæcis imitabile lumen,
Portans invalidos, qui cecidere levans.

Counsel, love of virtue, courteous eloquence, O father Walcheline, were fixed to you.
Corrector of youths and of old men, ministering lessons,
by example of life, a shepherd who rules both.
You were a foot to the lame, an imitable light to the blind,
bearing the infirm, lifting up those who had fallen.

Divitiis dominus, hilaris largitor earum,
Dum reficis multos, deficis ipse tibi.
Os tu plebis eras, regis secretior auris,
Illum subjectis, se sibi concilians.
Mensis erat Jani, rapuit te tertia nonas
Indiscreta trias, te super astra trahat.

A master of riches, a cheerful bountiful bestower of them,
While you restore many, you yourself fail to suffice.
You were the mouth of the people, the more secret ear of the king,
Conciliating him to his subjects, making him favor himself.
It was the month of Janus; the third Nones seized you,
May the indivisible triad draw you above the stars.

XVII.De Thoma archiepiscopo.

17.Concerning Thomas the archbishop.

Thomas præsul obit, petit alta, nec ima relinquit,
Dum corpus tumulum, spiritus astra subit.
Supra doctores et supra philosophantes,
Philosophia suo pane refecit eum.
Inprimis primum fecit custodia morum,
Moribus insignem splendida fama canit.

Thomas the prelate dies; he seeks the heights, nor leaves the depths behind,
Dum the body to a tomb, the spirit ascends to the stars.
Above the doctors and above the philosophizers,
Philosophy refreshed him with its own bread.
First and foremost he made the guardianship of morals,
A splendid fame sings him distinguished by his morals.

Magnificabat eum populi vox, gratia cleri,
Curia regalis magnificabat eum.
Una dies sole jam vertit ad arcitenentem,
Cum portavit ei missa sagitta necem.

The voice of the people magnified him, the grace of the clergy,
The royal court magnified him.
One day, the sun now turned toward the fortress-warden,
When a sent arrow brought him death.

XVIII.De abbate Serlone.

18.Concerning abbot Serlone.

Ecclesiæ murus cecidit Serlone cadente,
Virtutis gladius, buccina justiciæ.
Vera loquens, et non vanis sermonibus utens,
A puero didicit seria sero loqui.
Vita tenax æqui, mens provida, libera lingua,
Et quos corripuit principibus placuit.
Judicium præceps, contrarius ordinis error,
Et levitas morum non placuere sibi.

Church wall fell with Serlone falling,
The sword of virtue, the trumpet of justice.
Speaking truth, and not using vain speeches,
From boyhood he learned to speak serious things soberly.
A life tenacious of the just, a provident mind, a free tongue,
And those princes whom he rebuked he pleased.
Hasty judgment, error contrary to order,
And levity of morals did not please him.

Tertius a Jano mensis, lux tertia mensis,
Cum nece suppresum, vita levavit eum.

The third month from Janus, the third month's light,
When suppressed by death, life raised him.

XIX.De Willelmo Fiscamnensi abbate.

19.Concerning William, abbot of Fiscamnense.

Et verbo vitaque bona, Willelme, fuisti,
Ecclesiæ sanctæ filius atque pater.
Turris firma David, quæ conterit alta Damasci,
Contra perversos arma tenens fidei.
Et decus et virtus supra fastigia cleri,
Et pudor in facie, gratia vocis erat.

And in word and life you were good, William,
A son and father of the holy Church.
The strong tower of David, which crushes lofty Damascus,
Bearing the arms of faith against the perverse.
Both honor and virtue above the heights of the clergy,
And modesty in visage, a grace of voice was yours.

Tu miseris, tu mendicis oculus pietatis,
Et subtracta tibi lætus ovansque dabas.
Sexta dies aderat quæ præveniebat Aprilem,
Cum de morte notat se sibi vera diem.

You, eye of piety to the wretched, you of the mendicant,
And with what had been taken away you gave, joyful and exulting.
The sixth day was at hand which preceded April,
When it marked out for him the day that would be truly his death.

Explicit libellus domini Godefridi.

Here ends the little book of Lord Godfrey.