Letter 8014: Lord bishop, good shepherd and author of honor,

From: Venantius Fortunatus, poet, in Poitiers To: Gregory of Tours, Bishop of Tours Date: ~584 AD Context: A verse greeting to Gregory, part of the sustained correspondence between the two men. Lord bishop, good shepherd and author of honor, rightly the glory of your race, Gregory, where faith ennobles: I give thanks to God knowing good things of you, and I send the blessings of a brother and friend. You ask what I am doing. I am writing, mostly — attempting to make something of the days that will be worth having made. Some days I succeed and some days the verses disappear like morning frost when the sun comes out. But then I think of you: writing your History of the Franks, documenting everything that is happening in this extraordinary century, making sure someone records what the world looks like while it is still possible to describe it clearly. You are doing something more important than poems. I say this without false modesty — poems matter — but the kind of systematic witness you are bearing to this world and this time is irreplaceable. Write your history. I will write my verses. And let both be a gift to whatever future manages to read them. Your Fortunatus

XIV Ad eundem salutatoria Alme, beate pater, lumen generale, Gregori, iure sacerdotum culminis arce caput, reddo deo grates de vobis prospera noscens, vestris nunc scriptis laetificatus agens. me quoque commendans humili prece voce saluto, iugiter officio quem mea corda colunt.