From: Venantius Fortunatus, poet, in Poitiers
To: Gogo, chancellor, at the Austrasian court
Date: ~568 AD
Context: A summer verse letter to Gogo, describing the heat and longing for his company.
When July, bearer of heat, burns the fiery sands
and the dry earth thirsts at the dusty edge,
when the listless vine barely unfolds its peaceful shade,
when with gentle murmur the soft breeze scarcely breathes:
then the world seems to slow down to a crawl,
and in that slowness I find myself thinking of friends
more vividly than I do in busier seasons.
You appear to me in the white afternoon haze —
not quite present, not quite absent,
the way a memory of a good dinner makes itself felt
on a day when the food is mediocre.
Write to me, Gogo. Tell me what the summer is like
in the north, where I hear there is sometimes actual weather.
Tell me what the court is doing, what controversies
are keeping you busy, what new books have arrived,
what conversations you have been having
that you wish I were there to join.
I will be there eventually. Until then,
I have this paper, and this pen,
and the somewhat unreliable post riders of Gaul,
and the firm conviction that friendship survives the miles
even if it does not like them.
VIII
Ad eundem
Aestifer ignitas cum Iulius urit harenas
siccaque pulvereo margine terra sitit,
languidior placidas vix pampinus explicat umbras,
mollior et glaucas contrahit herba comas,
summissis foliis Phoebi regnante vapore
vix sua defendit frigida tecta nemus,
pabula fastidens fugit aestu bucula saltus,
ipse nec adflictis pascitur ervus equis,
longius expositam linguam canis ore flagellat,
ilia lassa trahens tristis anhelat ovis:
forte viator iter gradiens ferventibus horis
uritur accensis sole premente comis.
qui arescente solo, modico recreetur ut haustu,
saepius inriguas anxius optat aquas,
arboris aut tremulae viridante cacumine fuso
frondibus oppositis temperet umbra sitim.
prosperitate nova si iam prope lucus opacet
et vitrei fontis sibilet unda recens,
huc properans placidis homo laetus sternitur arvis,
volvit in herbosos et sua membra toros.
vota secuta tenens gemino refovetur amoeno:
hine levat umbra diem, hinc fugat unda sitim.
carmina siqua tenet, cantu modulante recurrit,
provocat et placidos blandior aura sonos,
si sibi forte fuit bene notus Homerus Athenis
aut Maro Traiano lectus in urbe foro;
vel si Davitico didicit sacra dogmata plectro,
psallit honorificum fauce rotante melum.
tangitur aut digito lyra tibia fistula canna:
quisque suis Musis carmine mulcet aves.
sic ego, curarum valido defessus ab aestu,
noscens te salvum fonte refectus agor.
o nomen mihi dulce Lupi, replicabile semper
quodque mei scriptum pagina cordis habet,
quem semel inclusum tabulis dulcedinis intus
non abolenda virum pectoris arca tenet;
thesauros pietatis habens, pretiosa voluntas
producens animo pura talenta suo!
divitias quas mundus habet mens aurea vincit
gemmarumque decus corde micante refert.
sensus aromaticus suaves diffundit odores.
hoc tribuens animae quod bene tura solent.
melle saporatum refluens a pectore verbum
et sale conditum reddis ab ore sophum.
post tenebras noctis stellarum lumina subdens
Lucifer ut radiis sic mihi mente nites.
ut recreat mundum veniens lux solis ab ortu,
inlustrant animum sic tua verba meum.
cum peregrina meos tenuit Germania visus,
tu pater et patriae consuliturus eras.
quando merebar ovans placidos intendere vultus,
mox geminata mihi fulsit in orbe dies,
conserui quotiens vestro sermone loquellas
credidi in ambrosiis me recubare rosis.
omnibus una manens, sed plus tua gratia nobis,
vinxit in affectu me properante suo.
nunc quoque pro magnis quis digna rependat honoris?
materia vincor et quia lingua minor.
sic per ascensum culmen supereminet altum:
hinc meus urguet amor, hinc tuus obstat honor.
sed pro me reliqui laudes tibi reddere certent,
et qua quisque valet te prece voce sonet,
Romanusque lyra, plaudat tibi barbarus harpa,
Graecus Achilliaca, crotta Britanna canat.
illi te fortem referant, hi iure potentem,
ille armis agilem praedicet, iste libris.
et quia rite regis quod pax et bella requirunt,
iudicis ille decus concinat, iste ducis.
nos tibi versiculos, dent barbara carmina leudos:
sic Variante tropo laus sonet una viro.
hi celebrem memorent, illi te lege sagacem:
ast ego te dulcem semper habebo, Lupe.
◆
From:Venantius Fortunatus, poet, in Poitiers
To:Gogo, chancellor, at the Austrasian court
Date:~568 AD
Context:A summer verse letter to Gogo, describing the heat and longing for his company.
When July, bearer of heat, burns the fiery sands and the dry earth thirsts at the dusty edge, when the listless vine barely unfolds its peaceful shade, when with gentle murmur the soft breeze scarcely breathes:
then the world seems to slow down to a crawl, and in that slowness I find myself thinking of friends more vividly than I do in busier seasons.
You appear to me in the white afternoon haze — not quite present, not quite absent, the way a memory of a good dinner makes itself felt on a day when the food is mediocre.
Write to me, Gogo. Tell me what the summer is like in the north, where I hear there is sometimes actual weather. Tell me what the court is doing, what controversies are keeping you busy, what new books have arrived, what conversations you have been having that you wish I were there to join.
I will be there eventually. Until then, I have this paper, and this pen, and the somewhat unreliable post riders of Gaul, and the firm conviction that friendship survives the miles even if it does not like them.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.