Translation of Fortunatus,
Carmen 11.5

Joseph Pucci
Brown University

Dulce decus nostrum, Christi sanctissima virgo,
Agnes quae meritis inmaculata manes:
sic tibi conplacuit hodiernum ducere tempus,
ut mihi nec solitam distribuisses opem?
nec dare nunc dominae modulamina dulcia linguae,
cui dum verba refers pascitur ore tuo?
abstinuisse cibis etiam vos ipse probavi
et quasi pro vobis est mihi facta fames.
audio, somnus iners radiantes pressit ocellos:
an nimias noctes anticipare volis?
cui non sufficint haec tempora longa quietis,
cum prope nox teneat uuod duplicata dies?
nubila cuncta tegunt, nec luna nec astra videntur;
si sis laeta animo, me nebulae fugiunt.
gaudia vera colat quae nos haec scribere iussit
et tecum faveat ducta sub arce poli.

 

Agnes, holiest virgin in the West, who always acts virgin-like,
you're still the same sweet beauty to me:
but are you so caught up with yourself 24 hours a day
that you can't spare some time for good old me like before?
Don't you even have time to give some of your sweet melodies to Radegund
who feeds on your every word when you deign to send them?
(I've even heard tell that you are not eating: you might say
we're both, as it were, famished.)
I'm at your beck and call: does lazy sleep press your glowing eyes
or are you thinking about nights to come?
Who wouldn't find these long spaces of quiet enough, since day after day
and night after night offers up nothing but quiet?
It's pitch black: no moon, no stars.
But if you're happy, it's bright as noon.
Let her be truly happy, the one who bid me write this.
Let her be your prop, led under God's sky.

 

[Return to Contents]