From: Venantius Fortunatus, poet, in Poitiers
To: Gogo, chancellor at the Austrasian court
Date: ~565 AD
Context: A verse letter to Gogo, the brilliant chancellor of the Austrasian Merovingian court, comparing him to Orpheus — one of Fortunatus's earliest and most celebrated correspondences.
While Orpheus moved the tuned strings with his thumb
and words gave sound as the plectrum struck the threads,
soon as the lyre rang out it touched the woods with sweetness,
drawing beasts to love at the sound of the cithara.
Vacant birds flew in from every direction,
the wolf and the lamb lay down together forgetting their enmity,
the pebbled river held back its current,
and Cerberus himself left off his triple howling.
But you, Gogo, do all this without a lyre.
Your conversation is the music that stops the world;
your wit draws men toward you the way Orpheus drew animals —
except that your audience is more interesting
and considerably better dressed.
I came to the Austrasian court expecting a barbarian kingdom
and found instead a man who could debate philosophy at dinner,
quote Virgil at breakfast, and still have wit left over
for the business of governing the realm.
I should not have been surprised.
Great men appear wherever God places them.
I am merely grateful that God placed you
somewhere I was able to go.
Your friend,
Fortunatus
I
Ad Gogonem
Orpheus orditas moveret dum pollice chordas
verbaque percusso pectine fila darent,
mox resonante lyra tetigit dulcedine silvas,
ad citharae cantus traxit amore feras.
undique miserunt vacuata cubilia dammas,
deposita rabie tigris et ipsa venit.
sollicitante melo nimio filomela volatu,
pignora contemnens fessa cucurrit avis:
sed quamvis longo spatio lassaverat alas,
ad votum veniens se recreavit avis.
sic stimulante tua captus dulcedine, Gogo,
longa peregrinus regna viator adit.
undique festini veniant ut promptius omnes,
sic tua lingua trahit sicut et ille lyra.
ipse fatigatus huc postquam venerit exul,
antea quo doluit te medicante caret.
eruis adflictis gemitus et gaudia plantas;
ne tamen arescant, oris ab imbre foves.
aedificas sermone favos nova mella ministrans,
dulcis et eloquii nectare vincis apes.
ubere fonte rigat labiorum gratia pollens,
cuius ab arcano vox epulanda fluit.
pervigili sensu dives prudentia regnat,
fomite condito cui salis unda natat;
qui fulgore animi radios a pectore vibras,
et micat interior lux imitata diem.
sed vicibus mundum modo sol modo nubila complent:
at tua semper habent corda serena diem.
visceribus promptis templum pietatis haberis
muneribusque sacris es fabricata domus.
forma venusta tibi proprio splendore coruscat,
ut mentis habitum vultus et ipse probet,
omne genus laudum specie concludis in una,
nec plus est aliquid quam tua forma gerit.
principis arbitrio Sigibercthi magnus haberis:
iudicium regis fallere nemo potest.
elegit sapiens sapientem et amator amantem,
ac veluti flores docta sequestrat apes.
illius ex merito didicisti talis haberi,
et domini mores serve benigne refers,
nuper ab Hispanis per multa pericula terris
egregio regi gaudia summa vehis.
diligis hunc tantum quantum meliora parasti:
nemo armis potuit quod tua lingua dedit.
haec bona si taceam, te nostra silentia laudant,
nec voces spectes qui mea corda tenes.
vera favendo cano neque me fallacia damnat,
teste loquor populo: crimine liber ero.
haec tibi longinquos laus ardua surgat in annos,
haec te vita diu servet et illa colat.
◆
From:Venantius Fortunatus, poet, in Poitiers
To:Gogo, chancellor at the Austrasian court
Date:~565 AD
Context:A verse letter to Gogo, the brilliant chancellor of the Austrasian Merovingian court, comparing him to Orpheus — one of Fortunatus's earliest and most celebrated correspondences.
While Orpheus moved the tuned strings with his thumb and words gave sound as the plectrum struck the threads, soon as the lyre rang out it touched the woods with sweetness, drawing beasts to love at the sound of the cithara.
Vacant birds flew in from every direction, the wolf and the lamb lay down together forgetting their enmity, the pebbled river held back its current, and Cerberus himself left off his triple howling.
But you, Gogo, do all this without a lyre. Your conversation is the music that stops the world; your wit draws men toward you the way Orpheus drew animals — except that your audience is more interesting and considerably better dressed.
I came to the Austrasian court expecting a barbarian kingdom and found instead a man who could debate philosophy at dinner, quote Virgil at breakfast, and still have wit left over for the business of governing the realm.
I should not have been surprised. Great men appear wherever God places them. I am merely grateful that God placed you somewhere I was able to go.
Your friend, Fortunatus
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.