Purior hic campis aër Phoebusque sereno
lumine purpureum reserat iam sudus Olympum;
nec iam consertis per mutua vincula ramis
quaeritur exclusum viridi caligine caelum;
sed liquidum iubar et rutilam visentibus aethram
libera perspicui non invidet aura diei.
in speciem tum me patriae cultumque nitentis
Burdigalae blando pepulerunt omnia visu:
culmina villarum pendentibus edita ripis
Et virides Baccho colles et amoena fluenta
subter labentis tacito rumore Mosellae.
(Ausonius, Mosella 12-22)
In these plains the air is purer, and Phoebus, now cloudless, opens glittering Olympus with his untroubled light. The heavens are no longer shut out by a green gloom and to be sought in the tangle of intertwining branches; and the free air of bright day does not begrudge to the beholder a clear radiance and a dazzling sky. Everything moved me in this charming scene by its resemblance to the splendour of shining Burdigala (Bordeaux), my native land: the tops of the villas standing out above the overhanging banks, the hills green with vines, and the pleasant waters of the Mosella flowing beneath with a muted murmur. (tr. Frank Stewart Flint)
Crambe Repetita 