To Camilla (Work in Progress)
inspired by Vergil, Aen 7.803-811

Curre, cucurristī per tōtam, fulminis instar,
vītam; strinxistī |* aequora nec pedibus.
_____
*utrum possint hiātūs apud hanc sēdem esse, nesciō; sed hīc hiātus poētae placet.

Run!
Resplendent and swift, like a thunderbolt,
you've run your whole life
nor did your feet ever graze the plain
as you ran.

Poem for my Gallic Girl (work in progress)






Cantus sit Gallae, sī sint mea carmina digna;
Quid mea fīt Gallā scripta rogante? Labor.
Hīc labor optimus est: elegīam scrībere Gallae;
Hōc tibi sī placeat, Galla, poēma, bonum est!


Let my Gallic girl have song
if my songs are worthy.

What happens when she asks for one,
written out? Hard work.

But it is excellent work,
to write song for her.

If this poem please you,
Gallic beauty, only then is it good.

Prayer from the Front
Work in Progress





"Ō gemma pontī pulchra Sarōnicī
quam prōtegunt castae Artemidis manūs
tūtāmen estō cīvitātis:
nūmine mox redeam volente."

"O fine jewel of the Saronic Bay
whom the hands of chaste Diana protect
Be thou a bulwark for the citizens:
If god so will, I shall soon return..."

Patroclus ut Achillis īra minuātur precātur.



"Furōris ardens et nimis ignibus
accense, flectī tē sine carmine
ut fonte pūrō dēminūta est
flamma furensve fugātus Auster

maris potentī, nam cohibet manūs
vī turma Grāiās Hectoreā tenax:
Lux nostra, iam dēpōne saevam
rōbora quā pereunt Achaea

īram, minus hāc sī moveam prece,
incerta saltem tē moneat tuba
nōn sustinērī posse Phoebō
tēla diū Lycia adiuvante."


Patroklos prays that Akhilleus' anger be assuaged.

"O blazing and too roused by anger's fires
Be thou bent and softened by this prayer
just as flames are lessened by pure waters
or the South wind, which flees at Neptune's bidding.

For the Trojan squadron, holding fast
by Hector's might, hems in the Danaan troops.
O, our saving light, now lay aside
the savage anger by which

our best now die. And if I not move you
by this prayer, then at least let
the uncertain trumpets' blare remind you
that Lycian arrows can not much longer
be withstood, so long as Apollo helps their side."

Soon to Graduate

O, ērudītīs praeposita artibus
tē, docta prōles, fronte Iovis sata (et)
Mūsae novem, vōs, turba mīra,
rēgia prōtegit Arx piandās.

O, you, set in charge of the liberal arts,
skilled offspring, born of Zeus' forehead,
and you, Muses nine, marvelous throng,
you goddesses, fit for reverence,
this royal citadel protects.

Alternative last Stanzas

(1)

omnēs - tuam ad laudem - scopulōs suā
rēplet sonōrōs harmoniā; modīs
mīrīs resultat rūpes omnis;
alta sonō feriuntur astra

(2)

Neptune, O, regnī scopulōs tuī
rēplet sonōrōs laudibus; et modīs
mīrīs resultat rūpes omnis;
omne specus sonat; omne lītus.

Translation of Thomas Campion's
Hymn in Praise of Neptune
in Latin Alcaics.

"Used to determine the Merton, New, Magdalen, Corpus, and Worcester College scholarships at Oxford in 1891" (Califf 2002: 140); no paraphrase was used as an aid in composing this piece.

Petrus Lichoas:

Neptūne, regnum caeruleum tuum,
cuius timendīs agmina fluctuum
obtemperant sceptrīs, canāmus,
flūmina quem celebrant cadūca

altissimīs dē montibus, aequora et
laudant gregēs ob lūcida squāmeī
- sēdēs suās - sollemnem et omnis
nauta tuae lapidem corōnae

ūmentibus dat dē loculīs suīs.
Trītōnum et aulae prae foribus chorī
maris solum pulsant trementis;
iam resonant vada salsa mōtū,

caelum ut fragōsō cum tonitrū boat.
Altum et colentēs - grex ululantium -
Nymphaeque, Sīrēnumque suāvī
turba perīta necāre cantū

omnēs - tuam ad laudem - scopulōs suā
rēplet sonōrōs harmoniā; modīs
mīrīs resultat rūpes omnis;
alta sonō feriuntur astra




Thomas Campion:

Of Neptune's empire let us sing,
at whose command the waves obey;
to whom the rivers tribute pay,
Down the mountains sliding:
To whom the scaly nation yields
Homage for the crystal fields
Wherein they dwell:
And every sea-dog pays a gem
yearly out of his wat'ry cell
To deck great Neptune's diadem.

The Tritons dancing in a ring
Before his palace gates do make
The water with their echoes quake
Like the great thunder sounding:
The sea nymphs with their accents shrill,
And the sirens, taught to kill
With their sweet voice,
Make ev'ry echoing rock reply
Unto their gentle murmuring noise
The praise of Neptune's empery.

egens puellā quō fugiam meā
"Without her, where should I take refuge?"
In Horatian Alcaics

egens puellā quō fugiam meā?
Montēs adeptus num viridēs vager
lūnae velut qui lūminōsae
vōce lupus minitante cantat

explens sonō lustra et nemora invia
saevō, comantēs quī movet īlicēs?
Sīc spīritus spīrante Mūsā
interiōre sonō movētur.

Without her
Where should I take refuge?
Should I reach the verdant mountain
ranges, and there, wander
like a wolf
who sings to the luminous moon
with threatening howls

filling his haunts and glades
with the savage sound,
which moves the leafy
holm-oaks ?

This is how my heart moves,
when inspired,
stirred by a sound from within.

(1) First line of an Alcaic "Soon to Graduate":

doctam ērudītīs praepositam artibus
arcem

O Citadel of Learning;
Seat of the Fine Arts

(2) Stanza for an Alcaic poem for work in progress:

egens puellae quō fugiam meae?
Montēs adeptus num Viridēs vager
lūnae velut qui lūminōsae
vōce lupus minitante cantat

explens sonō lustra et nemora invia
saevō...

Where should I flee
Now that I'm without my girl?
Having arrived at the Green Mountains
Should I there wander,
like a wolf who sings
to the luminous moon
with menacing voice

Filling his haunts and glades
with the savage sound?

Another Stanza For A.A. Bondy Latin Version
(Opus prōcēdit; nec iam perfectum est)




altīs procul sum moenibus; urbis et
frēnīs solūtus per iuga nunc vagor
lūnae velut baubans lupus, iam
reddet et ipse animum quietum

explens sonō lustra et nemora invia
saevō...


Far am I from the towering city
and, free from its restraints,
I now wander over the mountain ridges
like a wolf, howling gently at the moon
soon to restore peace to its soul

by filling the haunts and glades
with that savage sound...

"Salus Populī Lex Summa Estō"
Elegiac Meter





mē retinēre credis quīn scrībam carmina acerba?
(sēsē - ut vēra dīcam - quis retinēre potest?)
cūria nunc partim - populī quae tōta salūtem
dēliberat variī - consulit ipsa suae.
rīdet iam tōtus - nisi nōn terrae stupet orbis -
"Illīc* optima lex estne salus populī?"
______
cf. Prop. 1.19.11: illīc, quicquid erō, semper tua dīcar imāgō

Do you think that I can keep from writing bitter songs
(Who - to tell that truth - can hold back?)
Part of the senate - which, in its entire
deliberates over the health of a diverse people -
now looks to its health alone.
Now the entire world - if it isn't in shock -
snickers: "is that really the place where they say
"The Health of the People
Shall be the highest Law -
"Salus Populī Lex Summa Estō"?

Alcaic Stanza for work in progress:
"I can see the pines are dancing"


fērā poēta in silvā ululam velut
lūnae lupus cēdentibus asperae
signīs suō caecīs nitōre
rursus Amor volitans relīquit

quem nunc canentem barbitos adiuvat
maestus poētam; hoc et mihi sit melos
ignī furantī; quō involūtus
mox fuerō renovanda ut āles


Let me howl like a wolf
in the wild wood;
night's standard-bearers
to the jagged moon
give way, unseen
for its bright gleaming.

Quick-moving love again has left again.

Let this song be
as a raging fire
and I the Phoenix,
consumed by it.

Stanzas for
"I can see the pines are dancing"






Fērā poēta in silvā ululam velut
lūnae lupus cēdentibus asperae
signīs suō caecīs nitōre
rursus Amor volitans relīquit

mē; quem canentem barbitos adiuvat -


Let me howl in the wild wood,
like a wolf, as the sky's bright signs,
now unseen from its refulgence,
give way to the jagged moon.

Again quick-moving love has left
me, now the lyre encourages

Dēsiste, cor
In Alcaic Meter
Inspired by A.A. Bondy "I can see the pines are dancing"
In memory of Summer 2009




Dēsiste, cor, iam tundere pectora:
nōn tē cicādae cantus in arduō
saltū relaxat? - (1) quī serēnā
nocte facit saliant comētae

saltū relaxat? - (2) quī comētās
nocte trahit mediā fugācēs .

Translation

Heart, stop pounding 'gainst my chest:
Doesn't the cicada's sweet song
filling the steep mountain ravine
soothe you?

(1)
And it makes the comets dance
across the serene night sky.
(2)
and it lures the comets out
streaking 'cross the midnight sky

Carmina non prosunt
Songs aren't any use
(Latin Elegiacs)

"Carmina non prosunt, non auri cantus acervis
addet; nec digitum progrediere tua
in vita dominae nova semper fingere temptans
carmina, non fama est celsa petenda tibi?"
Talia sic fatur sibi (recta mente) poeta
rursum at scribat, si praetereat domina!

"Songs are no use; they're not
going to add to your gleaming
pile of gold. Your life's not
going to advance a finger's breadth
by always trying to come up with new
songs for your girl. Shouldn't
you be seeking lofty glory?"
Such did the poet say to himself,
when his mind was thinking clear.
But if his girl walked by that day
He'd take to writing verse again.

Don't Let Your Eager Heart Conspire
(English Iambic Tetrameter/Latin Elegiac Verse Translation)

Let not your eager heart conspire
to wreak cool reason's o'er throw
(and yet her passion'd glance inspires
the reason of this tended grove

this green-lit bow'r, wherein my song
can shelter from all harden'd glance
for there it grows, on tunèd lyre
the trellis and frame of my desire).

Cordi ne liceat praestringere mentis acumen
at mihi sunt cordi, lumina pulchra tua!
Causas quae mihi dant versus scribendi, et amorem
altum cantandi; sola velut nemora
inter quae vagor alta; polire meos libet omnes
hic versus; silva in hac mihi crescat Amor.

Sapphics inspired by
Run this Town (First Draft)

Verticem incedam feriente solus
imbre sublimem, et colaphis resistam
ventorum nam mox aderit poetae
meta laborum

I shall walk proudly, my head
held high against the lashing
rain and the blows of the wind,
alone: yet soon will the poet's
toils return their due.

SENORITA: Inspired by Justin Timberlake;
written in Sapphic mode.

ut mei maestam miseret puellam
crinibus fusis oculisque quondam
laetis, corruptis lacrimas recenter
propter obortas!

quae nondum sertam meruit coronam
victricem, passae pueri parum aequi
tela; cuius non simili est amicus*
vulnere passus.

sentiat, si illam liceat lacertis
amplexari mollibus, esse amoris
verioris me stimulantis usque
summa adipisci

virtutis. Per nubila dormienti
visa est interdum mihi summa currens
leniter; "mecum," rogat et stupentem
"visne volare?"

________
vel tela; non ictu simili est amicus
saucius ipse.

How sad I am for
The sorrowful girl, her hair undone,
and her eyes, once happy,
now ruined on account of
tears, recently sprung!

She has earned a crown,
a victor's crown, not yet plaited,
for the woman who has suffered
the shafts of unfair Cupid:
whose boyfriend wasn't struck
with the same wound.

She would feel, if I could only
hold her in my gentle arms,
that I was of a love more true,
a love that was ever goading
me on to attain the heights

of excellence. When I sleep
I've sometimes seen her
in my dreams, lightly running
over the tops of the clouds.
And she asks me, dumbfounded
though I am, "Do you want
to fly with me?"


ORIGINAL

On that sunny day
Didn't know I'd meet
Such a beautiful girl
Walking down the street
Seen those bright brown eyes
With tears coming down
She deserves a crown
But where is it now
Mamma listen

Senorita, I feel for you
You deal with things, that you don't have to
He doesn't love ya, I can tell by his charm
But you could feel this real love
If you just lay in my...

Running fast in my mind
Girl don't you slow it down
If we carry on this way
This thing might leave the ground
How would you like to fly?

Ad Oras Anglorum Novas Rediturae (in progress)

Novi ________* nunc Eboraci litora linquit
Anglorumque oras mox reditura novas
umidiores nunc, aestas quando est media; imber
nocte venit sera; tela iacit nitida
saeva sonans acies tonitru - reboante nemore -
nubium, et est cordi continuisse suam
iam cuique amatori; pluviamque audisse canoram
tectum pulsantem, et verba susurra* loqui.
"Proferat illa O si nox clara diem; trahat horas
has nobis, liceat quas removere die."

___________
*name surpressed (scans as dactyl)
*susurrus, -a, -um: Ovid Met. 7.825.


Manhattan's shores she leaves behind
soon to return to New England's climes,
more humid now at midsummer's height.

Now the rain comes late at night,
when warlike, ranks of clouds resound
with thunder, as they hurl down

their brilliant spears; their brazen clangor's
heard amongst the trees. And amours
are kept safe inside; embraces

are dear to lovers now, their place
lies in each other's arms. The song
of the rain on the rooftops; the soft

whispers: "O if night delayed
tomorrow, and added, from the day
to the few hours we now share."

Carmen de nocte Cantabrigii deacta
Last Night in Cambridge (to be continued)

iam celebres laeta calles sunt pube; calorem
aura coruscantem, nocte cadente, fugat.
gaudent convivis plenae quatiente tabernae
pulsu; desistit musica nec calices
vitae propini longaeque bonaeque; lucernae
sparsae intermissis luce micant tenebris.


Now the streets are thronging with life; the breeze
makes glittering summer's heat flee, as night falls.
The clubs, packed with party-goers, rejoice
as they shake with the beat, and the music doesn't,
nor do the cups, drunk in toasts to life good and long
stop; the scattered disco-lights' bright gleam
alternates with brief darkness.

In puellam immoderatis dictis usam

non bene dicenti moderari disce, puella,
linguae; iam nugas fundere mitte tuas;

(1)
istas, prome iterum, sere quas vis, stulta, loquelas,
atque vide propere quam fugiant alii.

(2)
istas prome tuas; age, dic quascumque loquelas
optas, atque vide quam propere fugiant
auditores...



Learn how to restrain your tongue, girl,
that doesn't speak well of others;
Leave off pouring out your trifling nonsense.

(1)
Go on, fetch them out, sow whatever chatter you like,
and watch how quickly people run in the other direction.

(2)
fetch out that talk of yours, go on say whatever you want,
and watch how quickly your listeners run
in the other direction...

Carmina non possunt (fragment)

"Carmina non possunt; non addit cantus acervis
aurum," talia grex nescius iste putet
Maestorum qui non...

"Songs can do nothing; songs cannot
to piles of gold coin add." Such let th'ignorant
throng of sorrowful...

To Catullus (in progress)

Languebant digiti, stilus et squalore latebat,
Pauper eram, volui vivere nequitiis.
Otium idem quod tum proceres temptabat et urbes
me quoque tum tempat: vera, Catulle, mihi
(heu!) tua carmina sunt. Fuerat tibi Lesbia causa
nequitiae, sed erat Nequitia ipsa mihi!
At victus quarendus erat, fama alta petenda
Tum interior Vox ait, "tolle, poeta, lyram
aut elegos tu scribe canoros: Dulcia possunt
Laetitias maestis carmina ferre animis."

My fingers lay in disuse,
my pen in squalor skulked
I wished a feckless life to live!

Ease, that kings and cities
ruled, ruled me and proved
Catullus' lauded fifty true!

O, Catullus, Lesbia proved
to be your idleness' cause.
But mine was Idleness herself!

But a man must earn his bread
and high fame must be sought.
and an Inner voice now said, "poet

lift your lyre, or else
write tuneful elegies.
Sweet song a mournful heart can soothe."

Astronaut's Love Song (Version 1)

Me tetigit caeli in celsis Amor ipse sagitta
terrarum quamvis orbe procul fugerem!
Non inter sparsas valui iam nare planetas
nauta nec intrepidus caeco habitare polo!
Has demum terras, haec tandem litora adeptus
quis via fulgebat tum facibus posui
miram sidereos galeam vestemque calores
amitto arcentes; nudus et orbus amo!

Love has struck me, while amidst heaven's heights
with his arrow, Love himself,
though I ran far from the inhabited world.
No longer could I swim amongst the scattered planets
Nor, bold astronaut though I was, live in the blind heights of heaven.
Finally touched down on this earth, finally on these shores,
I put aside the torches by which my way was then lit,
I put away my miraculous helm and garb,
the ones which fended off the star's bright heat,
And, nude and destitute, I am in love.

Astronaut's Love Song
(componenda membra - fragments having-to-be-put-together)

Me tetigit caeli in celsis Amor ipse sagitta
terrarum quamvis orbe procul fugerem!
Et cecidi, nondum cupiebam nare planetas
nauta inter sparsas

***

has demum terras, haec tandem litora adeptus
quis via fulgebat tum facibus posui,
miram sidereos vestem galeamque calores
amitto arcentes, et mihi ridet Amor!*

*tibicen (temporary support)

Love has struck me, amidst the heights of heaven
with his arrow, yes, Love himself,
though I was fleeing far from earth.
And I fell, no longer did I want to swim
amidst the planets, an astronaut,

***
having at last touched down on this land, these shores
I put aside the torches with which my way was lit
I put aside my miraculous helmet and garments
the ones which warded off the star's bright heat.

O Virides Montes (elegiac couplet)

O Virides Montes (Heliconia cedite lustra
(1)
Musis sacra novem); vos, iuga mira, cano!
(2)
Musis sacra novem); vos, nemora alta, cano!

Vermont! (give way, Heliconian haunts
sacred to the Muses nine), your marvels
groves are the subject of my song!