Laurentius Corvinus: Epithalamium

Edite Cesarea, Rex magne, propagine et ingens
     Stemmate de veteri nobilitatis honos,
Cuius ad excelsi solii sapientia dextram
     Robur et ad levam cum bonitate sedent,
Erigone ante oculos niveo stat fortis amictu               5
     Olim te superis impositura plagis.
Ingenio quamvis hebeti sum, frigore durus
     Slesiaco et sensus obriguere mei,
Nostra Ariadneae nam Slesia adacta coronae
     Sub Septem gemino mersa Trione iacet.               10
Nec mihi in Ausoniis unquam studuissc palaestris
     Non Helicona sacrum scandere sorte datum est;
Te licet augusta deceat gravitate verendum
     Aurea Maeonia barbitos acta manu;
Me tamen alma tuo radians in pectore virtus               15

O Caesarean-born, great King, of lineage and vast stem,
     An honor of ancient nobility,
At whose high throne wisdom on the right sits,
     Strength and on the left with goodness abide,
Erigone before the eyes stands brave in snowy cloak               5
     Once about to set you among the heavenly regions.
Though in genius I am somewhat dull, hardened by Silesian cold
     And my senses have grown numb,
For our Silesia, assigned to Ariadne’s crown,
     Lies submerged beneath the sevenfold twin of the North.               10
Nor was it given to me ever to strive in Ausonian palaestras
     Or to climb sacred Helicon by lot;
Although it suits you, august, to be revered with grave dignity
     When the golden Maeonian barbitos is played by practiced hand;
Me, however, the nurturing virtue shining in your breast               15

     Impulit exiguae tendere plectra lyrae,
Quam mihi Palladia pius ista Phoebus in urbe
     Compactam fidibus praebuit imparibus
Cum tibi clivosi stabilis moderator Olympi
     Sarmaticae gentis contulit imperium,               20
Gentis Martigenae, quae quondam fida Quirino
     Strenuaque Evandri tempore regis erat,
Gentis, quae fato profugi de sanguine claro
     Principium traxit praesidis Ausonii,
Cum modo nulla tibi sit successura virilis               25
     Proles, virtutem et sceptrum habitura tuum,
Venit Iapygiae laeta telluris: ab ora
     Praestanti in thalamos virgo pudore tuos.
Venit et ipsa tuae longaeva ab origine gentis
     Augeat ut prisce nobilitatis opus.               30

     She has urged me to ply the plectrum of a slender lyre,
Which that pious Phoebus of Pallas in the city
     Bestowed on me, compact with unequal strings;
When to you the steadfast ruler of lofty Olympus
     Conferred the rule of the Sarmatian people,               20
Of the Mars-born race, which once was faithful to Quirinus
     And vigorous in the time of King Evander,
A people that by fate, exiled from illustrious blood,
     Drew its beginning as guardian of Ausonian sway,
Since now no manly offspring is destined to succeed you               25
     To hold your virtue and your sceptre,
A joyous maid of the Iapygian land comes from the shore
     To your distinguished bridal-chamber with modest grace.
She comes, and may she herself enlarge the long-lived stock of your line
     And so increase the work of ancient nobility.               30

Et velut Evandri nomen venerabile regis
     Denotat insignem cum bonitate virum:
Sic regina Bona est praeclarum nomen adepta
     Congrua cumque suis nomina rebus habet.
Omnibus Arctois longe praelata puellis               35
     Ingenio, eloquio, moribus atque fide.
Splendidior tanto faciem, quanto aurea Phoebe
     Ignibus effulget clarior aethereis.

And just as the venerable name of King Evander
     Denotes a man distinguished by goodness:
So the queen Bona has won a famous name
     And her name suits her affairs.
Far preferred to all Arctic girls by a long way               35
     In intellect, in eloquence, in manners and in faith.
Her visage more resplendent just as golden Phoebe
     Shines more brightly from the heavenly fires.

Lucifer Eois et quanto lotus in undis
     Cetera candidior quam nitet astra poli.               40
Cui Venus egregios oculorum inflavit honores
     Fulgidus atque animum Iuppiter ingenuum:
Et licet ante tuam Tritonia Pallas in urbem
     Venit ab Arctois Marte fugata plagis,
Et pulchram sapiens in ea sibi condidit arcem               45

Lucifer of the East, and how, bathed in Eastern waves,
     Brighter than the other stars of the sky he shines.               40
To whom Venus breathed distinguished honours of the eyes
     And bright Jupiter an ingenuous spirit:
And though before you Tritonian Pallas into the city came
     Driven from the northern battle-strokes by Mars,
And the wise man there founded for himself a fair citadel               45

     Cirrheum temnens Phoebus Apollo iugum,
Quasque prius Rhodope sinuosus et audiit Hebrus
     Nunc audit Musas Vistula dulcisonas;
Pegasides tamen haec, quas possidet Itala tellus
     Infert gymnasio sponsa venusta tuo.               50
Sic quas quondam habuit tellus Memphitica et omnis
     Graecia, nunc retinet Sarmatia dives opes,
Quae longe exsuperant aurum omne quod Arcades Ursae
     Axis et oppositus vesper et ortus habent.
Prima etiam docte signant fundamina Crocae               55
     Haec loca Pierio grata fuisse choro.
Arce sub hac celsa rupes cava pandit hiatum
     Immensum, laterum brachia bina rigent.

     Phoebus Apollo holding the Cirrhean yoke,
Quasque prius Rhodope sinuosus et audiit Hebrus
     Now the Vistula hears the sweet-sounding Muses;
Pegasides tamen haec, quas possidet Itala tellus
     These Pegasids, however, which the Italian land possesses,
Infert gymnasio sponsa venusta tuo.               50
Sic quas quondam habuit tellus Memphitica et omnis
     Greece, now wealthy Sarmatia retains the riches,
Quae longe exsuperant aurum omne quod Arcades Ursae
     Which far surpass all the gold that the Arcadian bears’ axis
Axis et oppositus vesper et ortus habent.
Prima etiam docte signant fundamina Crocae               55
     These places are said to have been pleasing to the Pierian chorus.
Arce sub hac celsa rupes cava pandit hiatum
     Beneath this lofty citadel a hollow rock spreads a vast chasm,
Immensum, laterum brachia bina rigent.

Intus acuta silex roroque simillima tofo
In testudineum cedit abesa specum 60

Inside, a sharp flint, and to tufa most like dew,
drops, dripping, and sinks into the tortoise‑vaulted cave.

Caecus et in latebris sedet error, tecta putares
     Unde per insuetum Daedalus ibat iter;
Hic se condiderat draco saevus, acerba colono
     Pestis et admoto maximus hostis agro.
Haec ubi militibus Gracci est ad inhospita ventum               65
     Occupat hirsutus culmina summa frutex.
Quae pulchrae Dryades Satyri et coluere petulci
     Istula quasque suo Naiades amne fovet,
Hic ubi Cracovia est stabat densissima dumis
     Silva bisontinis dulce cubile feris.               70
Sorte aderat medica grandaevus in arte colonus,
     Cui dederat doctum curva senecta caput;
Is pecudum spolia ignifero cum sulphure miscens
     Illa venenosae praebet edenda ferae;
Ignoscunt fibrae, nimius calor intima siccat               75

Blind Error sits also in hiding, you would think beneath the roofs
     Whence through the unaccustomed way Daedalus used to pass;
Here a savage dragon had hidden itself, a bitter plague to the husbandman
     And, with the field brought near, a mighty hostile foe.
When these things to the soldiers of Gracchus had come to inhospitable ground               65
     A shaggy shrub seizes the highest roofs.
Which places the fair Dryads and wanton Satyrs once tended
     And each Naiad cherished with her own stream,
Where Cracow stands there rose a thicket thick with briers
     A sweet lair for bison-like wild beasts.               70
By chance there was an aged farmer skilled in the medical art,
     Whom bent old age had endowed with learned head;
He, mixing the spoils of the flocks with fire-bearing sulphur,
     Offers those poisonous things to the beast to be eaten;
The fibres are unharmed, excessive heat dries the inmost parts               75

     Viscera, flumineae saepe bibuntur aquae,
Quoque magis potant sitiunt magis ora liquores
     Dum tumor in bibulam pergis aquose cutem.
Impatiens gelidi laticis moribunda dehiscit
     Hydra et cum tumido vita fluore fugit.               80
Hinc sibi montano princeps in culmine sedem
     Adque pedem rupis moenia prima locat.
A duce munifico capit urbs haec regia nomen,
     Viveret ut multos Graccus in orbe dies,
Convolat ingenti Phoebeius ales acervo               85
     Ad putridas magna garrulitate dapes,
Cuius ab assiduo fertur clamore, futurum
     Cracovia auspicium sedis Apollineae.

     Viscera are often drunk by riverine waters,
And the more they drink the more their mouths thirst for liquids
     While a swelling you go into the drinkable watery skin.
Impatient of cold milk, dying it bursts open
     The hydra, and with a swollen stream life flees.               80
Hence the prince for himself on the mountain summit a seat
     And at the foot of the cliff locates the first walls.
From a munificent leader this royal city takes its name,
     That Graccus might live many days in the world,
Phoebeus' bird flies down to a vast heap               85
     To putrid feasts with great chattering,
From whose continual outcry it is said to bear the omen
     That Cracovia will be the auspice of an Apollinean seat.

Cui tua Romuleam non abs ratione Minervam
Nunc tulit a Latio sponsa profecta solo. 90

To whom your Romulean Minerva, not without reason, has now borne, the bride having set forth from the Latian soil. 90

Sic non fortuito nec casu contigit ullo,
     Sed tibi connubium hoc fata dedere deum;
Quod stabile efficiat pater optimus aetheris alti
     Qui geminos uno firmat in axe polos.
Et te mellifluo caeli cum rore vigoret               95
     Fecundetque tori claustra pudica tui,
Ut sis magnifici et generosi sanguinis auctor
     Inque tua vivat posteritate genus.
Splendida te faciat coniunx cum prole parentem
     Auctura populi regna superba tui,               100
Strenua fulmineo quae sit cum Marte, profanas
     Eversura tuas, perfide Mosce, domos.

Thus not by chance nor by any accident did it come about,
     But the fates and the god gave this marriage to you;
Which may the best father of the high aether make stable
     Who fastens the twin poles in one axle.
And may you flourish with the honey-flowing dew of heaven               95
     And may the chaste barriers of your bed make you fruitful,
That you may be the sire of magnificent and noble blood
     And that your stock may live on in your posterity.
May a splendid spouse make you a parent with offspring
     Increasing the proud realms of your people,               100
Vigorous with lightning-like Mars, who may be, to overthrow
     Your profane houses, perfidious Mosco.

Illustresque tua veniant de prole nepotes,
Qui Scythiae gentes Massagetasque regant.
Et dicione sua Maeotica Cymmeriorum 105

And may illustrious grandchildren come from your stock,
who rule the peoples of Scythia and the Massagetae.
And under their dominion the Maeotic Sea of the Cimmerians 105

     Regna premant tenebris obsita perpetuis.
Sic tua progenies regnum fortissime et altum
     Nomen, perdurent tempus in omne tuum.
Nec ruat in praeceps tua magni gloria regni
     Istula Danubias donec inundat aquas.               110

     May kingdoms press, overgrown with perpetual darkness.
Thus may your progeny most bravely hold the kingdom and lofty
     Name; may they endure through all your time.
Nor let the glory of your great realm tumble headlong
     Into the Danubian waters until it overflows the streams.               110