Alia Poemata Latina

ALIA POEMATA LATINA

In Obitum Henrici Principis Walliae

[I.]

Ite leues (inquam), Parnassia numina, Musae,Non ego vos posthâc hederae velatus amictuSomnis (nescio queîs) nocturna ad vota vocabo:Sed nec Cyrrhaei saltus Libethriáue aruaIn mea dicta ruant; non tam mihi pendula mens est,            5Sic quasi Dijs certem, magnos accersere montes:Nec vaga de summo deducam flumina monte,Qualia parturiente colunt sub rupe sorores:Si-quas mens agitet moles (dum pectora saeuoTota stupent luctu) lachrymísque exaestuet aequis            10Spiritus, hi mihi iam montes, haec flumina sunto.Musa, vale, & tu Phoebe; dolor mea carmina dictet;Hinc mihi principium: vos o labentia mentisLumina, nutantes paulatim acquirite vires,Viuite, dum mortem ostendam: sic tempora vestram            15Non comedant famam, sic nulla obliuia potent.Quare age, Mens, effare, precor, quo numine laeso?Quae suberant causae? quid nos committere tantum,Quod non Lanigerae pecudes, non Agmina lustrent?Annon longa fames miseraéque iniuria pestis            20Poena minor fuerat, quàm fatum Principis aegrum?Iam foelix Philomela, & menti conscia Dido!Foelices, quos bella premunt, & plurimus ensis!

OTHER LATIN POEMS

On the Death of Henry, Prince of Wales

[1.]

Go, fickle (so I call you) Muses, holy powers of Parnassus,Since from this point on I will no longer call you to my nightly prayersVeiled in a mantle of ivy in insubstantial dreams:But do not let the Cyrrhaean forests nor the Libethrian fieldsBreak into my words either: for my mind is not so unstableThat I would vie with the gods in this way, luring mighty mountains:Nor would I lead roaming rivers down from the highest mountainLike those the nine sisters cultivate under the teeming cliff:If my mind should set in motion any mighty thing (while my heartLies utterly stunned by cruel grief) and my soul seethesWith tears to match, let heart and tears now be my mountains, my rivers.Muse, farewell, and you also Phoebus; let sadness dictate my songs;So I begin: you, the mind's downcast eyes,By degrees amass tottering power,Come alive, as I show death: thus the ages would not devourYour fame, thus no oblivion would drink it up.So, come, Mind, cry out, tell me, please, what holy power have we injured?What causes lie hidden? What deed did we commit that was so colossalThat neither flocks of Sheep, nor Streams of Water could expiate?Surely a prolonged famine or the vexation of a miserable plagueWas not a lesser punishment than a Prince's fated sickness?Now Philomela is happy, and Dido too, knowing her choice!Happy are they who are afflicted by wars and many swords! Non metuunt vltrà; nostra infortunia tantùmFatáque Fortunásque & spem laesêre futuram.            25Quòd si fata illi longam invidêre salutemEt patrio regno (sub quo iam Principe nobisQuid sperare, imò quid non sperare licebat?)Debuit ista pati prima & non nobilis aetas:Aut cita mors est danda bonis aut longa senectus:            30Sic lactare animos & sic ostendere gemmamExcitat optatus auidos, & ventilat ignem.Quare etiam nuper Pyrij de pulueris ictuPrincipis innocuam seruastis numina Vitam,Vt morbi perimant, alióque in puluere prostet?            35Phoebe, tui puduit quum summo manè rediresSol sine sole tuo! quàm te tum nubibus atrisTotum offuscari peteres, vt nocte silentiHumana aeternos agerent praecordia questus:Tantùm etenim vestras (Parcae) non flectit habenas            40Tempus edax rerum, túque o mors improba sola es,Cui caecas tribuit vires annosa vetustas.Quid non mutatum est? requiêrunt flumina cursus;Plus etiam veteres coelum videre remotum:Cur ideo verbis tristes effundere curas            45Expeto, tanquam haec sit nostri medicina doloris?Immodicus luctus tacito vorat igne medullas,Vt, fluuio currente, vadum sonat, alta quiescunt. They have nothing more to fear: our tribulations have done nothing moreThan exhaust both our Destiny and our Luck, as well as our future hope.But if the fates begrudged him and his ancestral realmLasting health (as the Prince's subjects, till now, what could weHope, indeed what could we not hope?)Not life's storied...