two odes, two translations, two epigrams

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whiteoctave
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two odes, two translations, two epigrams

Post by whiteoctave »

some compositions i have to hand, i.e. in digital form:

'The London Eye' (Horatian alcaics):

uides ut alti per nitidas means
caeli, palumbes albide, semitas
cursusque praecelsos quietus
pectoribus uolitam serenis?

hic in cubili conspicuo super
urbem uirorum Londiniensium
plenam nec in pennis columbae
nec merulae sedeo coruscis,

sed ferrei me palma uolubilis
tutum gigantis certaque sustinet.
dum Phoebus intonsus pererrat
aetherium radiansque cursum,

labor gregem inter, candide auis, tuam,
nec Noctiluca desuper omnia
crescente tranquilla sedile
deserere hunc cupio uolantem.

hic inter auras despiciens leues
uisu recurrantem in Thamesim uago
nunc ipse quaerenti quietem
inuenio mihi quam malignum

praebere cordi Londinium nequit.
florent nefandis criminibus uiae
uerbisque probrosis sed arte
Pieriisque carent Camenis.

a! triste uerum nunc fateor tibi,
dulcis palumbes: hic mea corpora,
conclusa in angusta cauerna
et uitrea, resident relicta.

sed corda molles inter arundines
lymphasque lenti nunc remanet Cami
qua litteris omnes in ipsis
abdere se sine fine possunt,

ergo trementi nunc animo moror
dum siue Virtus integra sordidam
constansque ad hanc urbem recurrat,
siue ferox pedibus Procrustes

Scerionque demens effugiant citis.
imple canoris carminibus tuis
nostras, inornate ales, aures
sollicitas trepidamque mentem.

nunc palma rursus barbara me leuat
ex urbe prauo sed miserum in polum;
nunc aegra mens rursus reuoluens
ad patriam uolitat fidelem.


'Tyro' (Sapphics in, yes, Attic dialect!)

ἠνίδ’, ὦ Τυροῖ, φιλία νεᾶνις, νῦν πέφευκας, εὐπατέρεια μόσχε καλλίμορφέ τ’ Αἰολίδου τυράννου, δώματα τραχῆ. Κρήθευς γάρ σε σχετλίαν φιλόφρων ἐκ χερῶν σώσας φονίων Σιδηροῦς, εἰς ταχύρροθ’ ἦχεν Ἐνιπέως σε χεύματα λάθρη, ἔνθα χρυσοφεγγὲς ὕδωρ σιωπῇ ἐν γύαισιν Θεσσαλικοῖς καταρρεῖ. καὶ σέθεν φαενν’ ἐφιλεῖτον ἁγνὸν ὄσσε ῥέεθρον· καὶ κέαρ σὸν ἔπτετ’ ἀπῆμον ἄχθων. ἔνθ’ ἔρωτος, παῖς, ἐπλανῶ ζαπληθὴς πολλάκις πτύσσειν ποταμῷ ποθοῦσα χεῖρας ἐπ’ ὠκεῖ. ἀλλὰ πόντιος θεὸς ἐνθάδ’ εἴς σε δύσμορον, Τυροῖ καθαρά, δεδορκὼς ῥεύματος θύμῳ δολίῳ καλὴν ᾑ– ρήσατο μορφήν. φεῦ, τάλαινα· φαυλότατον Ποσειδῶ ἠσπάσω βραχίονι κἀν νόμοισιν συγκαθηύδησας ἀμαθῶς ἐνύδροις δαίμονι δεινῷ. ἐκκαλύψας δ’ αὐτὸν ἐκεῖ Ποσειδῶν θᾶσσον ὀβρίμης σ’ ἔλιπεν θυέλλης παῖδε, Σαλμῶνις, δίδυμ’ ἐν ταλαίνῃ γαστρὶ φέρουσαν. Νηλέ’ ἄλκιμον Πελίαν τε δριμὺν ἠθέλησας βλέμματα πάντα κρύψαι, τῆμος ἐν δένδροις σκοτίοισιν Αἵδῃ τῶδ’ ἐπέτρεψας. μητρὶ προσπέπτωκε κακίον’ ἄχθη; ἢ φρονεῖς εὐδαιμονίσειν γυναῖκα τέκν’ ἐφεῖσαν; νῦν δὲ θεοί σε δακρύ– ουσαν ἴδοντες καὶ στένουσαν ταῦτα πάθη πανοῦργα σ’ ᾤκτισαν καὶ Κρηθέ’, ἄριστον εἴδει, θεῖον εὐφιλέστατον, ὤπασάν σοι δυσθεραπεύτῳ. νῦν δὲ λείψομαί σε, Τυροῖ, μάκαιραν σοῦ γὰρ ἄχθη ποικίλα καὶ γοεδνὰ δωρεᾷ τῶν ἀθανάτων κεκούφιστ– αι φιλογηθῶν. εὖ δὲ τοῦτ’ ἴσθ’· ἡδ’ ἔτι δόξα μίμνει σοί γ’ ἀρίστη καίπερ ἔγωγ’ ἀοιδῇ τῇδ’ ἀκόμψῳ πάντα μέλη παλαιὰ κάρτα μιαίνων.


Fraternitas (Ovidian elegiacs)

My boyish days are nearly gone,
My breast is not unsullied now;
And worldly cares and woes will soon
Cut their deep furrows on my brow--
And life will take a darker hue
From ills my brother never knew.
And human passions o'er my soul
Now hold their dark and fell control:
And fear and envy, hate and rage,
Proclaim approaching manhood's age.
And I have made me bosom friends,
And loved and link'd my heart with others;
But who with mine his spirit blends,
As mine was blended with my brother's?
When years of rapture glided by,
The spring of life's unclouded weather,
Our souls were knit, and thou and I,
My brother, grew in love together.
The chain is broke which bound us then--
When shall I find its like again?
from My Brother's Grave, J. Moultrie (1816)

Nunc ego consumpsi prope tempora grata iuuentae:
pectora non curis intemerata fero.
anxietas mordax uiuendique aspera cura
sulcabit frontem plurima ruga meam.
tunc mea uita nigrans acri uelamine fiet
plenaque, quae fratri non patienda, malis.
tunc animi motus hominum per corda patentes
me stimulo saeuo perfodiente regunt.
formido liuorque uirilia tempora signant,
et furor et rabies, esse futura mihi.
uincula amicitiae notae carissima feci
et mea sola aliis pectora uinxit amor.
quis sua corda meis miseris immiscet amator
corda uelut fratri sunt bene mixta meis?
dum fugiunt anni, uer tam iuuenale quietis,
tunc anima est animae nostra ligata suae.
quam bene me miserum, quam te quoque, frater adempte,
olim perpetuus nos duo fouit amor!
nunc sunt uincla, quibus uincti sumus, omnia fracta -
a! quando uinclis talibus ipse fruar?


Audenda (Tragic Trims)

Death closes all; but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.
The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks;
The long day wanes; the slow moon climbs; the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends.
'T is not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down;
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
From Ulysses, Tennyson (written 1833)

Ἅιδης τελεῖ πάντ’, ἄνδρες, ἀλλὰ δρᾶν ἔνι ἔργον τι λάμπρον ἧμιν οὐδὲ δυσπρεπὲς ἔριν θεοῖσι σχοῦσα καὶ πρὸ τοῦ θανεῖν. ἴδετέ νυν· ἀνταυγοῦσιν ἀστέρας πέτραι· μήνη σχολῇ φθίνοντος ἤματος μακροῦ τέλλει βυθός τε περιβρέμει πολύρροθος. ἴτ’, ἄνδρες, οὐ γὰρ ὄψε γῆν νεωτέραν ἔστιν ματεύειν· νῦν δ’ ἀπάραθ’ ἥμενοι κόσμῳ· κλυδώνι’ ἀμβρέμοντα κόψατε· δυσμῶν γὰρ ἐκτὸς ἡλίου πλεῦσαι θέλω ἐκτός τε πάντων ἑσπέροις ἄστροις σταθμῶν εὣς ἂν θάνω γε· χάσμα μὲν κατεσθίοι ἡμᾶς τάχ’ ἄν· μάχαρα δὲ πρόσσχοιμεν χθόνα οὗ γνῶτον ὄψόμεσθ’ ἄκρον τ’ Ἀχιλλέα.

'junk mail' (general elegiacs)

est mihi nil melius quam laetas scribere chartas
mittereque in sociam talia uerba domum.
cur tamen accipio non chartas comis amici
sed magis a prauis scripta nefanda uiris?
dic mihi quid mercem uacuam utilitate requiram:
quid mihi cum nugis, quid leuibusue mihi?
est nihil (ut dixi) melius quam sumere chartas
mittereque in calidum talia uerba focum!


'junk food' (Grk anth elegiacs)

εἰπέ μοι εἰρομένῳ, τί με μίσεις, φαῦλε μάγειρε, νηδὺν ἐμὴν μυσαρῶν πλησάμενός γε τροφῶν; ἐκ τίνος, ὦ δύστηνε, δέμας καὶ φροντίδα χραίνεις; πᾶν ἐπίγραμμα καλὸν γαστρὶ καλῇ γράφεται. οὐ δ’ ἐλεγεῖα βαρεῖ στομάχῳ τινὰ λεπτὰ ποήσω· χαίρετε, δεῖπνα λίπους· νῦν φέρε μοι θρίδακας.


~DJB

Aurelia
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Post by Aurelia »

:o You're bril. :D

auctor
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Post by auctor »

Great stuff all.
~D can we read some of your true self in the Greek junk food one? It made me laugh out loud.
I struggle to maintain a healthy diet - how much easier it is to grab a carrier bag-ful of something hot from a 'caupona' on the way home! The person behind your verse sounds similar.
On a more serious note - the assonance of 'ei' and alliteration on 'm' in the first line is most pleasant, as are the 'k/g' and 'p's in line 4.
I would strongly recommend that anyone interested in this sort of stuff read at least this verse out loud - whether or not you translate it (you ought, it really is quite good) is up to you - but at least hear the sounds!

Paul

Episcopus
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Post by Episcopus »

Is he serious? Did he write those? What? :shock:

est nihil (ut dixi) melius quam sumere chartas
mittereque in calidum talia uerba focum!

I get quite pissed off actually even when disposing of them.

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