Stauroumai

Domine,_quo_vadis
Annibale Carracci, Domine quo vadis? (1602)

Ὡς δὲ ταῦτα ἐσκέπτοντο, γνοῦσα ἡ Ξαντίππη τοῦ ἀνδρὸς τὴν συμβουλίαν τὴν πρὸς τὸν Ἀγρίππαν, πέμψασα ἐδήλωσεν τῷ Πέτρῳ, ὅπως ἐξέλθῃ ἀπὸ τῆς Ῥώμης. καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ  δελφοὶ ἅμα τῷ Μαρκέλλῳ παρεκάλουν αὐτὸν ἐξελθεῖν. ὁ δὲ Πέτρος εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· “δραπετεύωμεν, ἀδελφοί;” οἱ δὲ ἔλεγον αὐτῷ· “οὔ, ἀλλ’ ὡς ἕτι σου δυναμένου ὑπηρετεῖν τῷ Κυρίῳ.” πεισθεὶς δὲ τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς ἐξῆλθεν μόνος, εἰπών· “μηδεὶς ὑμῶν ἐξερχέσθω σὺν ἐμοί, ἀλλ’ ἐξέρχομαι μόνος, μεταμφιάσας τὸ σχῆμά μου.” ὡς δὲ ἐξῄει τὴν πύλην, εἶδεν τὸν Κύριον εἰσερχόμενον εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην. καὶ ἰδὼν αὐτὸν εἶπεν· “Κύριε, ποῦ ὧδε;” καὶ ὁ Κύριος αὐτῷ εἶπεν· “εἰσέρχομαι εἰς τὴν ῾Ρώμην σταυρωθῆναι.” καὶ ὁ Πέτρος εἶπεν αὐτῷ· “Κύριε, πάλιν σταυροῦσαι;” εἶπεν αὐτῷ· “ναί, Πέτρε, πάλιν σταυροῦμαι.” καὶ ἐλθὼν εἰς ἑαυτὸν ὁ Πέτρος καὶ θεασάμενος τὸν Κύριον εἰς οὐρανὸν ἀνελθόντα, ὑπέστρεψεν εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην
ἀγαλλιώμενος καὶ δοξάζων τὸν Κύριον, ὅτι αὐτὸς εἶπεν “σταυροῦμαι”· ὃ εἰς τὸν Πέτρον ἤμελλεν γίνεσθαι. ἀναβὰς οὖν πάλιν πρὸς τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς τὸ ὁραθὲν αὐτῷ· κἀκεῖνοι ἐπένθουν τῇ ψυχῇ, κλαίοντες καὶ λέγοντες· “παρακαλοῦμέν σε, Πέτρε· ἡμῶν τῶν νεωτέρων φρόντισον.” καὶ ὁ Πέτρος αὐτοῖς ὅτι· “ἐὰν ᾖ τοῦ Κυρίου τὸ θέλημα, γίνεται, καὶ ἐὰν ἡμεῖς μὴ θέλωμεν. ὑμᾶς δὲ ὁ Κύριος στηρίξαι δυνατός ἐστιν εἰς τὴν πίστιν αὐτοῦ, καὶ θεμελιώσει ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ πλατυνεῖ ἐν αὐτῷ, οὓς αὐτὸς ἐφύτευσεν, ἵνα καὶ ὑμεῖς ἄλλους φυτεύσητε δι’ αὐτοῦ. ἐγὼ δέ, μέχρις με θέλει ὁ Κύριος ἐν σαρκὶ εἶναι, οὐκ ἀντιλέγω· καὶ πάλιν θέλοντος λαβεῖν με, ἀγαλλιῶμαι καὶ εὐφραίνομαι.”
(Actus Petri cum Simone: Marturion tou Hagiou Apostolou Petrou 6-7)

And as they made plans together, Xanthippe* heard of the conspiracy which her husband had with Agrippa, and she sent word to Peter and asked him to leave Rome. And the other brethren, together with Marcellus, requested him to leave. But Peter said to them, ‘Shall we act like deserters, brethren?’ And they said, ‘No; but by going you can still serve the Lord.’ He obeyed the brethren, and went away alone, saying, ‘Let none of you go with me, I will go alone in disguise.’ When he went out of the gate he saw the Lord come into Rome. And when he saw him he said, ‘Lord, where are you going?’ And the Lord said to him, ‘I go to Rome to be crucified.’ And Peter said to him, ‘Lord, are you being crucified again?’ And he said, ‘Yes, Peter, again I shall be crucified.’ And Peter came to himself; and he saw the Lord ascending to heaven. Then he returned to Rome, rejoicing and praising the Lord because he had said, ‘I am being crucified.’ This was to happen to Peter. He went again to the brethren and told them of the vision which he had. And their souls were sorrowing, and they wept and said, ‘We entreat you, Peter, have regard for us, the young ones.’ And Peter said, ‘If it be the Lord’s wish it will be, even if we would not have it so. The Lord is able to strengthen you in his faith, and he will establish you in it and increase it in you whom he has planted, so that you may also plant others through him. I will not object so long as the Lord will keep me alive; and again if he will take me away I shall be glad and rejoice.’

* The wife of Albinus, who was a friend of the emperor Nero.

(tr. James Keith Elliott)

Eupatereiam

Disney witch

Num censes calliplocamon callisphyron ullam
non licitum esse uterum atque etiam inguina tangere mammis,
conpernem aut varam fuisse Amphitryonis acoetin
Alcmenam atque alias, Ledam ipsam denique—nolo
dicere; tute vide atque disyllabon elige quodvis—
couren eupatereiam aliquam rem insignem habuisse,
verrucam, naevum, punctum, dentem eminulum unum?
(Lucilius, fr. 567-573)

You don’t think, do you that any ‘fair-tressed’, ‘fair-ankled’ woman could not have touched belly and even groin with her breasts, or that Alcmena ‘spouse of Amphitryon’ could not have been knock-kneed or bandy-legged, and that others, even Leda herself, could not have been—I don’t want to say it: see to it yourself and choose any disyllable you want—that ‘a girl of good parentage’ could not have had some outstanding mark, a wart, a mole, a spot, one little protruding tooth? (tr. Llewelyn Morgan)

Hodous

Via Appia

Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἡ φύσις τῆς χώρας παρέχεται τὰ εὐτυχήματα τῇ πόλει, προσέθεσαν δὲ Ῥωμαῖοι καὶ τὰ ἐκ τῆς προνοίας. τῶν γὰρ Ἑλλήνων περὶ τὰς κτίσεις εὐστοχῆσαι μάλιστα δοξάντων, ὅτι κάλλους ἐστοχάζοντο καὶ ἐρυμνότητος καὶ λιμένων καὶ χώρας εὐφυοῦς, οὗτοι προὐνόησαν μάλιστα ὧν ὠλιγώρησαν ἐκεῖνοι, στρώσεως ὁδῶν καὶ ὑδάτων εἰσαγωγῆς καὶ ὑπονόμων τῶν δυναμένων ἐκκλύζειν τὰ λύματα τῆς πόλεως εἰς τὸν Τίβεριν. ἔστρωσαν δὲ καὶ τὰς κατὰ τὴν χώραν ὁδούς, προσθέντες ἐκκοπάς τε λόφων καὶ ἐγχώσεις κοιλάδων, ὥστε τὰς ἁρμαμάξας δέχεσθαι πορθμείων φορτία· οἱ δ᾽ ὑπόνομοι συννόμῳ λίθῳ κατακαμφθέντες ὁδοὺς ἁμάξαις χόρτου πορευτὰς ἐνίας ἀπολελοίπασι. τοσοῦτον δ’ ἐστὶ τὸ εἰσαγώγιμον ὕδωρ διὰ τῶν ὑδραγωγίων, ὥστε ποταμοὺς διὰ τῆς πόλεως καὶ τῶν ὑπονόμων ῥεῖν, ἅπασαν δὲ οἰκίαν σχεδὸν δεξαμενὰς καὶ σίφωνας καὶ κρουνοὺς ἔχειν ἀφθόνους, ὧν πλείστην ἐπιμέλειαν ἐποιήσατο Μάρκος Ἀγρίππας, πολλοῖς καὶ ἄλλοις ἀναθήμασι κοσμήσας τὴν πόλιν. ὡς δ’ εἰπεῖν, οἱ παλαιοὶ μὲν τοῦ κάλλους τῆς Ῥώμης ὠλιγώρουν, πρὸς ἄλλοις μείζοσι καὶ ἀναγκαιοτέροις ὄντες· οἱ δ’ ὕστερον καὶ μάλιστα οἱ νῦν καὶ καθ’ ἡμᾶς οὐδὲ τούτου καθυστέρησαν, ἀλλ’ ἀναθημάτων πολλῶν καὶ καλῶν ἐπλήρωσαν τὴν πόλιν.
(Strabo, Geogr. 5.3.8)

So much, then, for the blessings with which nature supplies the city; but the Romans have added still others, which are the result of their foresight; for if the Greeks had the repute of aiming most happily in the founding of cities, in that they aimed at beauty, strength of position, harbours, and productive soil, the Romans had the best foresight in those matters which the Greeks made but little account of, such as the construction of roads and aqueducts, and of sewers that could wash out the filth of the city into the Tiber. Moreover, they have so constructed also the roads which run throughout the country, by adding both cuts through hills and embankments across valleys, that their wagons can carry boat-loads; and the sewers, vaulted with close-fitting stones, have in some places left room enough for wagons loaded with hay to pass through them. And water is brought into the city through the aqueducts in such quantities that veritable rivers flow through the city and the sewers; and almost every house has cisterns, and service-pipes, and copious fountains—with which Marcus Agrippa concerned himself most, though he also adorned the city with many other structures. In a word, the early Romans made but little account of the beauty of Rome, because they were occupied with other, greater and more necessary, matters; whereas the later Romans, and particularly those of to‑day and in my time, have not fallen short in this respect either—indeed, they have filled the city with many beautiful structures. (tr. Horace Leonard Jones)

Nanos

Nicolas Poussin, Orion aveugle cherchant le soleil, 1658
Nicolas Poussin, Orion aveugle cherchant le soleil (1658)

Dicebat Bernardus Carnotensis nos esse quasi nanos, gigantium humeris insidentes, ut possimus plura eis et remotiora videre, non utique proprii visus acumine, aut eminentia corporis, sed quia in altum subvehimur et extollimur magnitudine gigantea. et his facile acquieverim, quia artis praeparatitia et multos articulos veritatis tradunt artium praeceptores, etiam in introductionibus suis, aeque bene antiquis, et forte commodius. quis enim contentus est iis, quae vel Aristoteles in Periermeniis docet? quis aliunde conquisita non adiicit? omnes enim totius artis summam colligunt, et verbis facilibus tradunt. vestiunt enim sensus auctorum quasi cultu quotidiano, qui quodammodo festivior est, cum antiquitatis gravitate clarius insignitur. sunt ergo memoriter tenenda verba auctorum, sed ea maxime quae plenas sententias explent, et quae commode possunt ad multa transferri, nam et haec integritatem scientiae servant, et praeter hoc a se ipsis tam latentis quam patentis energiae habent plurimum.
(John of Salisbury, Metalogicon 3.4)

Bernard of Chartres used to compare us to [puny] dwarfs perched on the shoulders of giants. He pointed out that we see more and farther than our predecessors, not because we have keener vision or greater height, but because we are lifted up and borne aloft on their gigantic stature. I readily agree with the foregoing. Teachers of the arts, even in their Introductions, explain the basic elements of the art and many truths of the science equally as well as, and perhaps even better than do the ancients. Who is content even with what Aristotle gives in his [book] On Interpretation? Who does not add points obtained from other sources? All are gathering together everything [they can] that pertains to the whole art, and explaining it in terms that may be easily understood. They, so to speak, dress the message of the authors in modern style, which becomes in a way even more splendescent when it is more brilliantly adorned with the jewels of antiquity. Accordingly the words of the authors should not be lost or forgotten, especially those which give [their] full opinions, and have wide applicability. Such words preserve scientific knowledge in its entirety, and contain tremendous hidden as well as apparent power. (tr. Daniel D. McGarry)

Felicitas

Ulpiano Checa, El banquete de Nerón, ca. 1910
Ulpiano Checa, El banquete de Nerón (ca. 1910)

Verum tales cultores et dilectores deorum istorum, quorum etiam imitatores in sceleribus et flagitiis se esse laetantur, nullo modo curant pessimam ac flagitiosissimam esse rem publicam. tantum stet, inquiunt, tantum floreat copiis referta, victoriis gloriosa, vel, quod est felicius, pace secura sit. et quid ad nos? immo id ad nos magis pertinet, si divitias quisque augeat semper, quae cotidianis effusionibus suppetant, per quas sibi etiam infirmiores subdat quisque potentior. obsequantur divitibus pauperes causa saturitatis atque ut eorum patrociniis quieta inertia perfruantur, divites pauperibus ad clientelas et ad ministerium sui fastus abutantur. populi plaudant non consultoribus utilitatum suarum, sed largitoribus voluptatum. non dura iubeantur, non prohibeantur impura. reges non curent quam bonis, sed quam subditis regnent. provinciae regibus non tamquam rectoribus morum, sed tamquam rerum dominatoribus et deliciarum suarum provisoribus serviant, eosque non sinceriter honorent, sed <nequiter ac> serviliter timeant. quid alienae vineae potius quam quid suae vitae quisque noceat, legibus advertatur. nullus ducatur ad iudicem, nisi qui alienae rei domui saluti vel cuiquam invito fuerit importunus aut noxius; ceterum de suis vel cum suis vel cum quibusque volentibus faciat quisque quod libet. abundent publica scorta vel propter omnes, quibus frui placuerit, vel propter eos maxime, qui habere privata non possunt. exstruantur amplissimae atque ornatissimae domus, opipara convivia frequententur, ubi cuique libuerit et potuerit, diu noctuque ludatur, bibatur, vomatur, diffluatur. saltationes undique concrepent, theatra inhonestae laetitiae vocibus atque omni genere sive crudelissimae sive turpissimae voluptatis exaestuent. ille sit publicus inimicus, cui haec felicitas displicet; quisquis eam mutare vel auferre temptaverit, eum libera multitudo avertat ab auribus, evertat a sedibus, auferat a viventibus.
(Augustine, Civ. Dei 2.20.1-6)

But the worshippers and admirers of these gods delight in imitating their scandalous iniquities, and are nowise concerned that the republic be less depraved and licentious. Only let it remain undefeated, they say, only let it flourish and abound in resources; let it be glorious by its victories, or still better, secure in peace; and what matters it to us? This is our concern, that every man be able to increase his wealth so as to supply his daily prodigalities, and so that the powerful may subject the weak for their own purposes. Let the poor court the rich for a living, and that under their protection they may enjoy a sluggish tranquillity; and let the rich abuse the poor as their dependants, to minister to their pride. Let the people applaud not those who protect their interests, but those who provide them with pleasure. Let no severe duty be commanded, no impurity forbidden. Let kings estimate their prosperity, not by the righteousness, but by the servility of their subjects. Let the provinces stand loyal to the kings, not as moral guides, but as lords of their possessions and purveyors of their pleasures; not with a hearty reverence, but a crooked and servile fear. Let the laws take cognizance rather of the injury done to another man’s property, than of that done to one’s own person. If a man be a nuisance to his neighbour, or injure his property, family, or person, let him be actionable; but in his own affairs let every one with impunity do what he will in company with his own family, and with those who willingly join him. Let there be a plentiful supply of public prostitutes for every one who wishes to use them, but specially for those who are too poor to keep one for their private use. Let there be erected houses of the largest and most ornate description: in these let there be provided the most sumptuous banquets, where every one who pleases may, by day or night, play, drink, vomit, dissipate. Let there be everywhere heard the rustling of dancers, the loud, immodest laughter of the theatre; let a succession of the most cruel and the most voluptuous pleasures maintain a perpetual excitement. If such happiness is distasteful to any, let him be branded as a public enemy; and if any attempt to modify or put an end to it, let him be silenced, banished, put an end to. (tr. Marcus Dods)

Auos

Johannes Stradanus, Odysseus bij de toegang van Hades, ca. 1600-05

Μναμοσύνας τόδε †ἐριον†· ἐπεὶ ἄμ μέλλῃσι θανεῖσθαι
εἶς Ἀΐδαο δόμους εὐηρέας, ἔστ’ ἐπὶ δεξιὰ κρήνα,
πὰρ δ’ αὐτὰν ἑστακῦα λευκὰ κυπάρισσος·
ἔνθα κατερχόμεναι ψυχαὶ νεκύων ψύχονται.
ταύτας τᾶς κράνας μηδὲ σχεδὸν ἐνγύθεν ἔλθῃς.
πρόσθεν δὲ εὑρήσεις τᾶς Μναμοσύνας ἀπὸ λίμνης
ψυχρὸν ὕδωρ προρέον· φύλακες δ’ ἐπύπερθεν ἔασι.
οἳ δέ σε εἰρήσονται ἐνὶ φρασὶ πευκαλίμαισι
ὅττι δὴ ἐξερέεις Ἄϊδος σκότος ὀρφνήεντος
εἶπον· Γῆς παῖς ἠμι καὶ Οὐρανοῦ ἀστερόεντος.
δίψᾳ δ’ εἰμ’ αὖος καὶ ἀπόλλυμαι· ἀλλὰ δότ’ ὦκα
ψυχρὸν ὕδωρ πιέναι τῆς Μνημοσύνης ἀπὸ λίμνης.
καὶ δή τοι ἐρέουσιν ὑποχθονίῳ βασιλῆι·
καὶ δώσουσι πιεῖν τᾶς Μναμοσύνας ἀπὸ λίμνας,
καὶ δή καὶ σὺ πιὼν ὁδὸν ἔρχεαι ἅν τε καὶ ἄλλοι
μύσται καὶ βάχχοι ἱερὰν στείχουσι κλεεινοί.
(Orphicorum Fragmenta 474)

This is the [?] of Memory. When you are about to die …
you will go to the well-built halls of Hades; a spring is on the right,
and standing by it a glowing white cypress tree;
there the descending souls of the dead refresh themselves.
Do not go near to this spring at all.
Further along you will find, from the lake of Memory,
refreshing water flowing forth. But guardians are nearby.
They will ask you, with sharp minds,
why you are seeking in the shadowy gloom of Hades.
Say: “I am the child of Earth and starry Heaven;
I am parched with thirst and I perish; but give me quickly
refreshing water to drink from the lake of Memory.”
And then they will speak to the underworld ruler,
and then they will give you to drink from the lake of Memory,
and you too, having drunk, will go along the sacred road that the
other famed initiates and bacchics travel.
(tr. Radcliffe G. Edmonds III)

Peregrinationes

american tourists

Inde peregrinationes suscipiuntur vagae et invia litora pererrantur et modo mari se modo terra experitur semper praesentibus infesta levitas. “nunc Campaniam petamus.” iam delicata fastidio sunt: “inculta videantur, Bruttios et Lucaniae saltus persequamur.” aliquid tamen inter deserta amoeni requiritur, in quo luxuriosi oculi longo locorum horrentium squalore releventur: “Tarentum petatur laudatusque portus et hiberna caeli mitioris et regio vel antiquae satis opulenta turbae.” nimis diu a plausu et fragore aures vacaverunt, iuvat iam et humano sanguine frui: “iam flectamus cursum ad urbem.” aliud ex alio iter suscipitur et spectacula spectaculis mutantur. ut ait Lucretius: “hoc se quisque modo semper fugit.” sed quid prodest, si non effugit? sequitur se ipse et urget gravissimus comes. itaque scire debemus non locorum vitium esse quo laboramus, sed nostrum; infirmi sumus ad omne tolerandum, nec laboris patientes nec voluptatis nec nostri nec ullius rei diutius. hoc quosdam egit ad mortem, quod proposita saepe mutando in eadem revolvebantur et non reliquerant novitati locum. fastidio esse illis coepit vita et ipse mundus, et subit illud tabidarum deliciarum: “quousque eadem?”
(Seneca, De Tranquillitate Animi 2.13-15)

This is why men go touring on their travels and wander around the beach resorts; and their restlessness, ever hostile to present circumstances, tests itself now by sea, now on land. “Let’s make for Campania now.” Soon they are sated with fancy resorts. “Let’s go and see wild country, making for the moorland of Bruttium and Lucania.” But even in uninhabited places they miss some charm to give their pampered eyes relief from the stretches of neglect of rough terrain. “Let’s make for Tarentum, with its much-praised harbor and milder winter weather, and a hinterland wealthy enough even for a crowd of long ago.” “Now let’s turn about toward the city”: their ears have been deprived for too long of the din of applause, and now they are eager to enjoy human bloodshed. They embark on one journey after another and exchange one show for another. As Lucretius says: “This is how each man constantly is fleeing himself”, but what is the point of fleeing if he doesn’t escape himself? He is his own escort and drives himself on, the most burdensome of companions. So we ought to realize that we are suffering, not the fault of our surroundings, but our own fault; we are too weak to bear anything, enduring neither toil nor pleasure nor ourselves nor any thing for long. This condition has driven some people to death, because when they constantly changed their purpose, they returned to the same setup and had left no room for any novelty; they began to be sated with life and the world itself, and that old lament of spoiled indulgence came over them: “How long will we experience the same things?” (tr. John W. Basore)

Peleia

pigeon letter

Ἐρασμίη πέλεια,
πόθεν, πόθεν πέτασαι;
πόθεν μύρων τοσούτων
ἐπ’ ἠέρος θέουσα
πνέεις τε καὶ ψεκάζεις;
τίς εἶ, τί σοι μέλει δέ;
“Ἀνακρέων μ’ ἔπεμψε
πρὸς παῖδα, πρὸς Βάθυλλον
τὸν ἄρτι τῶν ἁπάντων
κρατοῦντα καὶ τυράννων.
πέπρακέ μ’ ἡ Κυθήρη
λαβοῦσα μικρὸν ὕμνον
ἐγὼ δ’ Ἀνακρέοντι
διακονῶ τοσαῦτα·
καὶ νῦν οἵας ἐκείνου
ἐπιστολὰς κομίζω·
καί φησιν εὐθέως με
ἐλευθέρην ποιήσειν·
ἐγὼ δέ, κἢν ἀφῇ με,
δούλη μενῶ παρ’ αὐτῷ.
τί γάρ με δεῖ πέτασθαι
ὄρη τε καὶ κατ’ ἀγρούς
καὶ δένδρεσιν καθίζειν
φαγοῦσαν ἄγριόν τι;
τὰ νῦν ἔδω μὲν ἄρτον
ἀφαρπάσασα χειρῶν
Ἀνακρέοντος αὐτοῦ,
πιεῖν δέ μοι δίδωσι
τὸν οἶνον ὃν προπίνει,
πιοῦσα δ’ ἀγχορεύω
καὶ δεσπότην κρέκοντα
πτεροῖσι συγκαλύπτω·
κοιμωμένου δ’ ἐπ’ αὐτῷ
τῷ βαρβίτῷ καθεύδω.
ἔχεις ἅπαντ’· ἄπελθε·
λαλιστέραν μ’ ἔθηκας,
ἄνθρωπε, καὶ κορώνης.”
(Anacreontea 15)

Lovely pigeon, where, where have you flown from? As you race on the air you smell of perfumes, you rain perfumes: where did they all come from? Who are you and what is your business?
“Anacreon sent me to a boy, to Bathyllus, now lord and master of all. Cythere* sold me in return for a little song; and it is for Anacreon that I perform tasks like this. And what letters I am carrying from him now! And he says he will give me my freedom immediately; but if he does release me, I shall stay with him as his slave. Why should I fly over mountains and fields and sit on trees after eating some wild food? As things are, I eat bread which I snatch from Anacreon’s own hands, and for drink he gives me the wine which he drinks to his loves; after drinking I begin to dance, and while my master plays his lyre I shade him with my wings. When he goes to bed, I sleep on the lyre itself. There, you know it all. Go away: you have made me more talkative than a crow, fellow.”

* Aphrodite

(tr. David A. Campbell, with his note)

Canentes

Giotto di Bondone, San Francesco predica agli uccelli
Giotto di Bondone, San Francesco d’Assisi predica agli uccelli (ca. 1290-95)

This is part 2 of 2. Part 1 is here.

O rerum natura creans, o gloria quamvis
sensum transcendens nullis incognita rebus!
vocibus humanis silvestria corda moventur,
auctorisque sui gaudent mansuescere servo.
unde Creatori se subicit, inde creata
quisque sibi subicit: nil est quod obaudiat eius
vocem, qui voci divinae semper obedit.
in volucres humana venit discretio: quidquid
ille iubebat, eas intellexisse putares.
nam species quamquam diversae, vox tamen una
omnibus, aut uni similis super aethera concors
effertur, nomenque Dei modulamine laudant,
quale sibi natura dedit; concentibus aër
acclamat, colles reboant, silvaeque resultant.
delectatus eis plusquam citharaeque lyraeque
cantibus et laetas tollens ad sidera palmas,
per medias Franciscus aves utrobique canentes
fertur, et immotas attrectarique ferentes
prolixae gaudet tunicae contingere limbo;
et benedicit eas dulcique licentiat ore.
permissae surgunt, pedibus tellure repulsa,
celsaque supportant libratis corpora pennis.
(Henry of Avranches, Legenda Sancti Francisci Versificata 8.205-226)

O creative force present to nature, O glory not hidden
From creatures, though transcending our senses!
Sylvan hearts respond to the voice of humans
And are gladly mild for the servant of their Maker.
Since he himself is his Creator’s perfect subject,
Every creature bows before him; there’s none that’s deaf
To word of his, who always the divine voice obeys.
A discernment human comes upon the birds: you would think
They could tell with minds whatever he bade them do.
Of divers kinds are they, yet all one song they sing;
as one and with one accord mounting up the sky,
They melodiously praise the name of God, in the way
That nature gave them; the air is loud with the chorus,
Re-echoed by the hills, resounding in the woods.
Delighted with their singing more than with harp or lyre,
And skywards raising his hands for joy,
Francis moves In among the birds, still singing on both sides of him,
Remaining still and allowing themselves to be handled,
And he loves to touch them with the hem of his long tunic.
And then he blesses and with dulcet voice gives them leave to go
Free to depart they rise, their legs kicking back the ground,
And convey their soaring bodies on poised wings.
(tr. Regis J. Armstrong)

Aves

stfrancis

This is part 1 of 2. Part 2 is here.

Ad natale solum cum solo fratre reversus,
non homines solum, verum pecuaria laudes
divinas efferre iubet, mireque frequenter
accidit ut, quamvis ratione carentia, verbis
eius obedirent intelligerentque loquentem.
dumque iuvat patriae diversos visere fines,
iuxta Bevanium collectas agmine denso
cernit aves varias, quibus exspectare benignum
ipsius accessum placido ducentibus ausu,
causam miratur, et mansuetudinis eius
unde datum sit eis arcanum scire tenorem
quas adiens fratresque vocans: “o nobile”, dixit,
“Primipotentis opus! quantas exsolvere laudes
vos illi de iure decet! qui corpora mundo
vestra superponens, plumis amicivit et alis,
qui vobis planas offendiculoque carentes
in caeli regione vias et in aëre puro
constituit, nostraeque nihil gravitatis habente;
qui quamvis uno produxerit ex elemento
et vos et pisces, vobis tamen altera longe
nobilitas, citior cursus, diffusius arvum,
maior libertas et deliciosior esca.
ergo simul laudate Deum, benedicite nomen
eius, qui tanto vos insignivit honore.”
(Henry of Avranches, Legenda Sancti Francisci Versificata 8.181-204)

Returning to his native soil with only one friar,
He urges not alone humans but the very beasts of the field
To utter the divine praises. And oft did the wonder occur
That though they lacked the power of reason they would obey
His words to them and understand him when he spoke.
His delight was to visit the various parts of his land
And while near Bevagna he espies an assortment of birds
Congregated in a closely knit flock; a mild bravery
Was making them await his kindly approach. Yet he wonders
Why, and how they could come to know the secret
Of his gentleness. Up he comes, calling them brothers,
Said to them: “O noble product of the First and Powerful One
How right and proper for you to ring out his praises!
Up above the world he placed your bodies, covering you
With wings and plumage. He made straight tracks for you,
With nothing to strike against, there in the heavens,
And set you in the pure air, where you are not weighted
Down like us, although out of the same element.
He produced the fish and yourselves, your nobility
Is the greater, your course is swifter, your range
Is wider, greater your freedom, and more delicious your fare.
Together, then, praise the Lord, bless his name,
Who has marked you with so much distinction and beauty.”
(tr. Regis J. Armstrong)