28 - 1996
Flemberg, Johan. 1996.
Four Poems by Venantius Fortunatus concerning
Duke Lupus. Translated into Swedish and English
TOR Vol. 28. Pp. 189-208
Johan Flemberg
Four Poems by Venantius Fortunatus concern- ing Duke Lupus
Translated into Swedish and English
Flemberg, J., 1996. Four Poems by Venantius Fortunatus concerning Duke Lupus. Translated into Swedish and English, Tor 28. Uppsala.
An annotated translation into Swedish and English of four poems by Venantius Fortunalus, based on Friedrich Leo's edition of 1881 in Monume~zta Ger~narzrae Historica. The poems concern the Merovingian Duke Lupus and were included by Venantius in his seventh book of poems published c. AD 576.
Keywords: Translation of Venantius Fortwtatus, Dvke Lupus.
Johan Flentberg, Deparhnent of Classical Archaeology a~~d A~zcie»t History, Stockholm Unii~ersit~~, 5-106 9I Stockholm, Sti~~eden.
The present translations of Venantius Fortunatus' Carnzina VII:7-10, are based on Friedrich Leo's text edition (Leo 1881), since in the new French edition (Reydellet 1994) the seventh book of the Carmina has not yet been published. I have also used Nisard's old translation (Nisard 1887) and Sven Blomgren's Studia Fortuizatiana (Blomgren 1933-34).
It has been my aim to present a translation which is as literal as possi- ble; in order to make it easier to survey I have, in spite of its being a prose translation, tried to keep the original division into lines. In prin- ciple, Iprefer not to translate verse (in this case, the elegiac distich) into prose, but it can be justified if the original text is given and if the pur- pose of the translation is not primarily a literary one.
Translating Venantius is not simple; it is true, as Reydellet observes, that he is a poet easy to grasp, full of concrete observations and pictur- esque expressions, but his language is often florid and some construc- tions are obscure. Perhaps he did from time to time, as he hinted himself
Johnn Flentberg
(VIL• 10, 19), write in great haste. On several points, I have consulted Dr Monica Hedlund, reader at the Department of Classical Philology in Uppsala, and I am grateful for her advice. Needless to say, the responsi- bility for the translations is entirely my own. The Swedish text was translated into English by Frands Heischend and myself and checked by Neil Tomkinson,
Carmina
VII:7. De Lupo duce
1 Antiqui proceres et nomina celsa priarum cedant cuncta, Lupi munere victa duds.
Scipio quod sapiens, Cato quod maturus agebat, Pompeius felix, omnia Bolus habes.
s illis consulibus Romana potentia fulsit, to duce sed nobis hic modo Roma redit.
to tribuente aditum cunctis fiducia surgit, libertatis opem libera lingua dedit, maestitiam si quis confuso in pectore gessit, 10 postquam to vidit spe meliore manet.
fundatus gravitate animi, quoque corde profundus tranquilli pelagi fundis ab ore Salem;
sed facunda magis plebi tua munera prosunt:
to condis sensus, nam salis unda cibos.
15 consilii radix, fecundi vena saporis, ingenio vivax, ore rotante loquax,
qui geminis rebus fulges, in utroque paratus, quidquid corde capis prodere lingua potent, pectore sub cuius firmantur pondera regis, 20 pollet et auxilio publica cura tuo.
subdis amore novo tua membra laboribus amplis:
pro requie regis duke putatur onus, o felix animus patriae qui consulit actus
et vivit cunctis mens generosa viris!
25 legati adveniunt: to respondente ligantur et iaculo verbi mox iacuere tui.
Four poer~Zs by Ve~aantius Fortu~tat~~s
lancea sermo fuit, quoque vox armata loquentis, auspicium palmae to Sigibercthus habet, responsum gentis sensu profertur ab illo so et votum populi vox valet una loqui,
cuius ab ingenio sortita est causa triumphum, adsertoris ope iustior ilia fuit.
nullus enim potent proprias ita pandere causas, ceu tua pro cunctis inclita lingua tonat.
3s Nilus ut Aegyptum recreat, dum plenus inundat, sic to colloquii flumine cuncta foves.
iustitia florente favent to iudice leges, causarumque aequo pondere libra manes.
ad to confugiunt, to cingula celsa requirunt, ao nec petis ut habeas: to petit omnis honor;
in cuius gremio nutritur adepta potestas, quo rectore datus crescere novit apex.
quam merito retinet concessos semper honores per quern digna magis culmina culmen habent!
as antiquos animos Romanae stirpis adeptus bella moves armis, Tura quiete regis, fultus utrisque bonis, hint armis legibus illinc,
quam bene fit primus cui favet omne decus!
quae tibi sit virtus cum prosperitate superna, so Saxonis et Dani gens cito victa probat.
Bordaa quo fluvius sinuoso gurgite currit, hit adversa acies to duce caesa ruit.
dimidium vestris iussis tunc paruit agmen;
quam merito vincit qui tua iussa facit!
ss feiratae tunicae sudasti pondere victor et sub pulverea nube coruscus eras, tamque diu pugnax acie fugiente secutus,
Laugona dum vitreis terminus esset aquis.
qui fugiebat iners, amnis dedit ille sepulchrum:
6o pro duce felici flumina bella gerunt.
inter concives meruit to Gallia lumen, lampade qui Gordis splendor ubique micas.
sunt quos forma potens, sunt quos sapientia praefert;
singula Bunt aliis, sed bona plura tibi,
Johnn Flemberg
6s occui7ens dominis veneranda palatia comples et tecum ingrediens multiplicatur honor, to veniente novo domus emicat alma sereno
et reparant genium regia tecta suum.
nempe oculos recipit cum to videt aula redire,
~o quern commune ducum lumina lumen habent:
principis auxilium, patriae decus, arma parentum, consultum reliquis, omnibus unus amor.
admiranda edam quid de dulcedine dicam, nectare qui plenus construis ore favor?
~s cara serenatum comitatur gratia vultum, fulget et interius perpetuata dies.
qui satias escis, reficis sermone benignus, sepositis epulis sunt tua verba dapes.
quis tibi digna loqui valeat, quern voce potente ao rex pius ornatum praedicat esse suum?
sit tibi summus apex illo regnante per aevum, vitaque sit praesens atque futura colat.
VII:8. Ad eundem
i Aestifer ignitas cum Iulius urit harenas siccaque pulvereo margine terra sitit,
languidior placidas vix pampinus explicat umbras, mollior et glaucas contrahit herba comas, s summissis foliis Phoebi regnante vapore
vix sua defendit frigida tecta nemus, pabula fastidens fugit aestu bucula saltus,
ipse nec adflictis pascitur ervus equis, longius expositam linguam cams ore flagellat io ilia lassa trahens tristis anhelat ovis:
forte viator iter gradiens ferventibus horis uritur accensis sole premente comic, qui arescente solo, modico recreetur ut haustu,
saepius inriguas anxius optat aquas,
Four poems by Venantius Fortunatus
is arboris aut tremulae viridante cacumine fuso frondibus oppositis temperet umbra sitim.
prosperitate nova si iam grope lucus opacet et vitrei fontis sibilet unda recens,
huc properans placidis homo laetus sternitur arvis, 20 volvit in herbosos et sua membra toms.
vota secuta tenens gemino refovetur amoeno:
hinc levat umbra diem, hinc fugat unda sitim.
carmina siqua tenet, Cantu modulante recurrit, provocat et placidos blandior aura sonos, 25 si sibi forte fuit bene notus Homerus Athenis
aut Maro Traiano lectus in urbe foro;
vel si Davitico didicit sacra dogmata plectro, psallit honorificum fauce rotante melum.
tangitur aut digito Lyra tibia fistula canna:
3o quisque Buis Musis carmine mulcet aver.
sic ego, curarum valido defessus ab aestu, noscens to salvum fonte refectus agor.
o nomen mihi duke Lupi, replicabile semper quodque mei scriptum pagina Gordis habet, ss quern semel inclusum tabulis dulcedinis intus
non abolenda virum pectoris arca tenet:
thesauros pietatis habens, pretiosa voluntas producers animo pura talenta suo!
divitias quas mundus habet mens aurea vincit ao gemmarumque decus corde micante refert.
sensus aromaticus suaves diffundit odores, hoc tribuens animae quod bene tura Solent.
melle saporatum refluens a pectore verbum et sale conditum reddis ab ore sophum.
4s post tenebras noctis stellarum lumina subdens Lucifer ut radiis sic mini mente rites.
ut recreat mundum veniens lux solis ab ortu, inlustrant animum sic tua verba meum.
cum peregrina meos tenuit Germania visus, so to pater et patriae consuliturus eras.
quando merebar ovans placidos intendere vultus, mox geminata mihi fulsit in orbe dies,
Johan Flemberg
conserui quotiens vestro sermone loquellas credidi in ambrosiis me recubare rosis.
ss omnibus una manens, sed plus tua gratia nobis, vinxit in affectu me properante suo.
nunc quoque pro magnis quis digna rependat honoris?
materia vincor et quia lingua minor.
Sic per ascensum culmen supereminet altum:
6o hinc mews urguet amor, hinc tuus obstat honor.
sed pro me reliqui laudes tibi reddere certent, et qua quisque valet to prece voce Bonet, Romanusque Lyra, plaudat tibi barbarus harpa,
Graecus Achilliaca, crotta Britanna canat.
6s illi to fortem referant, hi iure potentem, ille armis agilem praedicet, iste libris.
et quia rite regis quod pax et Bella requirunt, iudicis ille decus concinat, iste duds.
nos tibi versiculos, dent Barbara carmina leudos:
~o sic variante tropo Taus Bonet una viro.
hi celebrem memorent, illi to lege sagacem:
ast ego to dulcem semper habebo, Lupe.
VII:9. Item ad Lupum ducem
i Officiis intente piis, memorator amantis, prompte per affectum consuliture tuum, carius absentia nimium miseratus amid,
quando latente loco signa requirit amor:
s unde meis meritis datur hoc, ut protinus esset apes Fortunati cura benigna Lupi?
exul ab Italia nono, puto, volvor in anno litoris Oceani contiguante salo:
tempora tot fugiunt et adhuc per scripta parentum io nullus ab exclusis me recreavit apex.
quod pater ac genetrix, frater, soror, ordo nepotum, quod poterat regio, solvis amore pio.
Fotn• poems by Ve~tmttius Fornm~ah~s
pagina blanda tuo sub nomine missa benigne nectarei fonds me recreavit aquis.
is nec solum a vobis me dulcis epistula fovit, missus adhuc in rem portitor ecce venit.
munera quis potent, rogo, tot memor ore referre?
affectum dulcem pandere lingua nequit.
sed tibi restituat rex cuncta supernus ab alto, 20 quae minimis fiunt qui docet esse suum,
VII:10. Ad Magnulfum fratrem Lupi
1 Quam cito fama volat pernicibus excita pinnis et loca cuncta Buis actibus aucta replet!
nam tibi cum Rhenus, mihi sit Liger ecce propinquus, hic, Magnulfe, decens, magnus honore places.
5 sic tuba praeconis Sigimundi missa cucurrit, ut tua diffuso sint bona nota loco.
quod tamen in brevibus vix signat epistula verbis:
non quia cuncta canit, nec reticere cupit.
iuredico in primis pollens torrente relatu io sic regis, ut revoces facta vetusta novis,
cuius in officiis aequi cultoris aratro semine iustitiae plebs sua vota metit, nemo caret propriis; alienis nemo recumbit:
sic fads ut populum non vacet else reum.
is sollicitudo tua reliquis fert dona salutis, et labor unius fit populosa quies.
aequalis concors ut ab omnibus, alme, voceris, legibus hint iudex, hint bonitate parens.
da paucis veniam, quoniam mihi portitor instat:
20 nam de fratre Lupi res monet ampla loqui, sic tribuat dominus, meritis reparetis ut illum,
quern pariter tecum Gordis amore colo.
Joha~1 Flemberg
Carmina, bok VII, dikt 7
i Ma forntidens storman och hoga namn alla vika tillbaka, besegrade (p~ grund) av hertig Lupus!
Allt som den vise Scipio, den duglige Cato
och den lycklige Pompejus utforde, firms hos dig ensam.
s Under deras konsulat glanste den romerska makten, men under ditt hertigdome har Rom kommit titer till oss, D~ du ger audiens fir alla tillforsikt,
ditt fria tal ger hjalp at friheten.
Om nagon ar sorgsen och upprord,
to ar han vid battre mod sedan han skadat dig.
Ditt sinne ar allvarligt och din tanke (hjarta) djup, ett lugnt hays Salta flyter ur din mun.
Men det ar mest for folket som din talegava ar till nytta, du kryddar tankarna som vagens salt kryddar maten.
is Du ar radighetens rot och en ymnig smaks adra, din tanke ar livlig, din mun ar talfor och snabb, du som glanser i b~dadera, beredd till badadera,
vadhelst du har pa hjartat kan din tunga formedla.
Kungens makt har sin grund i ditt brost 20 och Staten ar stark genom din hjalp.
Med sallsam hangivenhet underkastar du diva lemmar stora anstrangningar;
for att kungen skall fa ro syns dig bordan ljuv, O, lyckliga sjal, som sorjer for fost~rlandets val,
och generosa sinne, som lever for alla man!
2s Sandebud kommer: de binds av ditt svar och stupar strax, traffade av ordens kastspjut.
Ditt tal var ett spjut och din rost var bevapnad;
i dig har Sigibert ett forebud om segern.
Fran derma mening utg~r folkets svar,
so och en enda rost kan uttala menighetens beslut.
Den sak som nett triumf genom ditt snipe blir annu rattvisare genom att bekraftas av dig.
Ty ingen skulle kunna tala for sin egen sak sa, som din frejdade tunga ljuder for alla.
ss Som Nilen vederkvicker Egypten, da den stiger,
Foan• poems by Venantius Fortunatus
s~,gynnar du alit med ditt tals flod.
Rattvisan blomstrar och lagarna ar bev~gna, nar du ar domare, du ar en processernas valbalanserade vag.
Till. dig flyr de hoga befalen, dig soker de;
ao du behover inte soka den, all ara soker dig.
I ditt skote vaxer makten upp,
under ditt styre har den ara du fatt lart sig vaxa.
Hur valfortjant beh~ller han inte de arebetygelser som alltid ges honour, han genom vilken de hogsta har den hogsta makten!
4s Du har antagit den gamla romerska stammens sed och for krig med vapen, leder rattskipningen i fred.
Hur ratt att den blir den forste, sour varje prydnad gynnar, stodd av bada fordelarna, dels vapen, dels lagar!
Vilken mannakraft du har, med av himlen forlanad lycka, so visas de snabbt besegrade Saxiska och Daniska folken.
Dar floden Bordaa sinner med slingrande lopp,
dar besegrades den fientliga haren under din ledning.
Halva haren lydde da under ditt befal;
hur rattvist segrar rote den, sour gor vad du befaller!
ss Som segrare svettades du under tyngden av pansarskjortan och du blixtrade i molnet av datum.
Och stridande forfoljde du den flyende Karen, tills Langonas genomskinliga vigor satte en grans.
~t den sour kraftlos flydde gav floden en grav, 6o floderna for krig for den lyckosamme faltherren.
Gallien has f6rtjanat dig sour ett ljus bland medborgarna, du sour str~lar overallt med hjartats fackla.
Somliga utmarker skonhetens makt, andra vishet;
vas och en has sin, men du has m~nga goda egenskaper.
6s Nar du motes dina herrar uppfyller du det arevordiga palatset och gran, sour stiger in med dig, m~ngfaldigas,
Vid din ankomst str~lar huset av en ny klarhet och den kungliga boningen aterf~r sin genius.
Hallen ~terfar sina ogon nar den ser dig ~tervanda,
~o dig sour de lysande hertigarna haller for sitt gemensamma ljus, furstens stod, fosterlandets ara, fadernas vapen,
Johan Flemberg
de ovrigas rad, alias gemensamma karlek.
Vad skall jag saga om ditt beundransvarda behag, av vilket du, full av nektar, gor honung med ditt tai?
~s Ett alskvart behag beledsagar ditt klara anlete, och en evig dag str~lar i ditt inre.
Du som mattar med mat, vederkvicker med vanligt tai, nar ratterna stallts undan ar dina ord en felt.
Vem skulle vardigt kunna prisa dig, dig som den fromme kungen so med ljudlig rost kallar sin prydnad?
Ma din stora ara, under hans regering, vara for evigt
och ma han njuta av sitt nuvarande liv och tanka p~ det kom- mande!
Ca~•ynina, bok VII, dikt 8
Nar Juli, som bringar hetta, branner den heta sanden och den tors jorden torstar i ett moln av stoft,' da ger den trotta vinrankan knappast nagon ljuv skugga
och det mjuka graset dray ihop sitt bleka her;
lundens lov slokar under Febus hetta
och den kan knappt forsvara sina svala rum.
Kvigan forsmar graset och flyr betesmarkerna p$ grund av hettan och de (av hettan) ansatta hastarna titer inte ens av akerlinserna.
Hunden.later sin Tanga tunga piska dess mun io och det sorgsna faret flamtar matt.
Vandraren som fardas under de heta timmarna branns nar haret fattar eld under solens tryck.
Ofta onskar han sig oroligt nar jorden ar torr en rannil for att forfriska sig med en liten klunk,
15 eller att en utbredd, gronskande tradkrona som ror sig i yinden , med sitt skuggande lovverk skall mildra torsten. ,
Om av en lycklig slump en Lund i narheten skanker Skugga och en klar kallas friska vag sonar,
da skyndar han dit och Jagger sig, lycklig, p~ den skona marken 20 och stracker ut sina lemmar pa badden av gras<
Four poe»is by Venanfius Fortantatus
Hans onskningar har gatt i uppfyllelse och han vederkvicks av en dubbel ljuvlighet:
dell mildrar skuggan dagens hetta, dels forjagar vattnet torsten.
Om han kan nagra singer, reciterar han dem med melodios sing, och den svalare luften lockar till behagliga ljud.
2s Om han val kanner Homerus, beromd i Athen, eller Maro,2 som lases i Rom pa Trajanus forum,
eller om han lart sig de heliga stinger som sjongs till Davids plekter d~ sjunger han den adla sangen med rorlig strupe.
Eller han trakterar Lyra, pipa, flojt, panflojt;
so varje instrument behagar faglarna med sin konst.
Sa blir jag, trott av bekymrens starka hetta,
vederkvickt (av kallan) nar jag vet att du ar raddad.
O, ljuva namn Lupus, vart att alltid upprepa, som ar skrivet pa mitt hjartas blad,
35 en man som, sedan han en gang blivit innesluten dar pa ljuvhetens skrivtavlar, mitt brosts skattkista behaller och ej skall utplana.
Du har en skatt av tillgivenhet, en rik (val)vilja som frambringar rena skatter i sin sjal.
Din gyllene sjal overtraffar varldens rikedomar, 40 och aterger parlors skonhet med ditt stralande hjarta.
Ditt aromatiska sinne sprider ljuva vallukter och ger sjalen det goda som rokelse brukar ge.
Det ord som flyter ur ditt brost smakar av honung och det visa du sager ar kryddat med salt.
4s Sasom aftonstjarnan efter nattens morker fordunklar stjarnornas ljus med sina stralar, sa stralar du i mitt sinne, Som solens ljus vid sin uppg~ng vederkvicker varlden,
sa upplyser dina ord mitt sinne.
Nar jag som framling skadade Germanien, so var du en fader som sorjde for faderneslandet.
Nar jag jublande bevardigades skada ditt lugna anlete, d~ lyste for mig en dubbel dag pa hlmlen.;
Sa ofta jag samtalade med dig,
tyckte jag mig vila pa ambrosiska rosor.
ss Din nadar lika for alla, men mig mer an andra
besegrade den med sin karlek, i det att jag skyndade dit,
Jolaart Flernberg
Vem skall nu ge dig hyllningar vardiga din ara?
Jag besegras av amnet och min tunga racker inte till.
Liksom berget hojer sig over den som bestiger det, 6o s~ dries jag av min karlek, men hindras av din ara.
Men i stallet for mig m~ andra tavla om att lovprisa dig,
och m~ ear och en efter sin form~ga bonfalla eller besjunga dig, ma romaren sjunga till Lyra, barbaren till harpa,
greken till achilleisk Lyra, britannern till crowd.
6s Ma de kalla dig stark, lagklok, skicklig i vapnens bruk, boklard.
Eftersom du pa ratt satt skoter bade fredens och krigets varv, m~ den ene besjunga din domareara, den andre din faltherreara.
Jag ger dig verser, ma den barbariska s~ngen ge dig kvaden;
~o s~ m~ p~ skilda satt samma pris ljuda for mannen.
Somliga ma namna dig beromd, andra lagklok, men jag skall alltid halla dig kar, Lupus.
Carmina, bok VII, dikt 9
i Du som tanker p~ dina fromma3 plikter och minus den som alskar dig, du sour ar snar att ge honour rid i din valvilja,
du sour alltfor mycket forbarmar dig over vannen sour darigenom ar mer garna franvarande, (nu) nar din karlek ber our ett livstecken fr~n mitt gomstalle:
s hur har jag fortjanat detta, att Fortunatus Kopp genast blir (forem~l for) Lupus valvilliga omsorg?
I nio fir, tror jag, har jag varit borta fran Italien, har vid Oceanens strand.
s~ ling tid har gatt och annu har fran mina foraldrar
10 rote kommit en stavelse sour uppmuntran i min ayskildhet.
Men det sour far och mor, bror, syster och deras barnaskara, det sour mitt land kunnat gora, det uppfyller du med from till-
givenhet.
Det alskvarda brevet, valvilligt aysant i ditt namn, har vederkvickt mig med sin nektarrika kallas floden.
Four poems by Ve~iantius Fortrninh~s
15 Och inte bara ditt brev har fornojt mig,
en for andamalet utsand brevforare har ocksa kommit.
Vem, undrar jag, skulle kunna minnas och rakna upp sa m~nga gavor?
Tungan vagrar att uttrycka sin ljuva kansla (av tacksamhet), Ma den himmelske Herren atergalda dig alit (detta),
20 han som lar att allt vad man ger ~t de minsta ar hans (givet at honour).
Car•mina, bok VII, dikt 10
i Hur snabbt flyger inte Ryktet, stigande pa snabba vingar, och uppfyller alla platser, sedan hon vuxit av sina egna hand-
lingar!
Ty du ar vid Rhen och jag ar nara Loire
och har ar du omtyckt, hoviske Magnulfus, och mycket grad.
s Sa (langt) har den haroldstrumpet Sigimund skickat ut fardats, att dina garningar ar valkanda i ett vidstrackt omrade.
Men det kan ett brev med korta ord knappast utsaga,
eftersom det rote kan besjunga alit, men rote Keller vill fortiga nagot.
Framst har du din styrka i rattskipningens flodande tal io och du regerar sa, att du med det nya ~terkallar det gamla.
I ditt ambete skordar folket med en rattvis odlares plog sina onskningars lon av rattvisans sadd.
Ingen saknar sin egendom, ingen Jagger sig till med en annans;
du gor s~ att folket irate har tillfalle att vara brottsligt.
is Din omsorg skanker de ovriga raddning och en mans arbete blir folkets ro.
Du ar rattvis och mild4 sa att du av alla kallas
dell domare, for din lagklokhet, dels fader, for din godhet.
Forlat att jag fattar mig kort, for brevforaren vantar;
20 men our Lupus bror manar saken att tala utforligt.
Give Herren, att ni genom era fortjanster ~terupprattar honour (Lupus), sour jag tillika med dig alskar av hjartat!
Jolaa~i Flenaberg
Car•mina, Book VII, Poem 7
1 May the great men of the past and the lofty names all give way, defeated by Duke Lupus!
Everything, which the wise Scipio, the capable Cato and the fortunate Pompey did, can be found in you alone.
s During their consulates, Roman power shone, but during your dukeship Rome has returned to us.
When you'grant an audience, everyone gains confidence, your free speech is helpful to freedom,
If someone is sorrowful and troubled,
10 he is in a better mood when he has seen you.
Your mind is serious and your thoughts (heart) are deep and the salinity of a calm sea flows from your mouth.
But it is mainly for the people that your gift of fluent speech is useful:
you flavour the thoughts as the salt of the wave seasons the food.
15 You are the root of advice and the vein of a plentiful taste, your mind is lively, your mouth fluent and fast,
you who shine in each, prepared for either,
whatever you have at heart your tongue can produce.
The King's power is founded in your bosom 20 and the State is strong owing to your help.
With singular devotion you put a great strain on your limbs:
for the King's peace the burden seems sweet to you.
O happy soul who sees to the welfare of the fatherland and generous mind who lives for all men!
2s Ambassadors arrive: they are tied by your answer and fall at once, hit by the javelin of the words.
Your speech was a lance and your voice armed;
in you Sigibert has a presage of the victory.
From this opinion does the answer of the people proceed so and a single voice can express the decision of the community.
That cause which has triumphed through your genius, becomes even more just by being confirmed by you.
No one could have spoken for his own cause in the way your renowned tongue sounds for everybody.
ss As the Nile recreates Egypt when it rises,
Foie• poems by Vena~ztiirs Forh~nnh~s
so do you favour everything with the flood of your speech.
Justice is flourishing and the laws are favourable when you are judge, you are the well-balanced scales of the lawsuits.
To you the high commands flee, you they require;
4o you need not seek it, all honour seeks you.
In your bosom power grows up,
under your rule the honour you have got has learned to grow.
How well-deserved does he keep the honours always bestowed upon him, he through whom the most dignified have the highest power!
45 You have adopted the custom of the old Roman stock waging war with arms, dispensing justice peacefully.
How fair (good) that he is the first whom every decoration favours supported by both advantages (goods), weapons as well as laws!
The vigour you possess, with a prosperity granted by heaven, so is proved by the promptly vanquished Saxon and Danish peoples.
Where the river Bardaa runs with a meandering course, there the enemy's army was defeated by your leadership.
You held the command over half the army at that time;
how well-deserved does he win who does what you bid!
ss As a victor you were sweating under the weight of the coat of mail and you were flashing in the cloud of dust,
and fighting did you pursue the fleeing army,
until the transparent waves of the Lagona (the Lahn) set bounds.
To him who strengthless fled the river gave a sepulchre:
6o For the prosperous leader the rivers wage war.
Gallia has deserved you as a light among its inhabitants, you who shine everywhere with the torch of your heart.
Some the power of beauty denotes, others wisdom,
there is something singular to each and everyone, but you have many merits (goods), 6s When you meet with your lords, you fill the venerable palace
and honour, which enters with you, is multiplied.
When you arrive, the house shines with a new serenity and the royal dwelling regains its genius.
The hall gets its eyes back seeing that you return,
~o you whom the shining dukes hold to be their common light:
Johan Fle»tberg
The monarch's support, the honour of the fatherland, the arms of the fathers, the advice of all others, the common love of everyone.
What shall I say about your admirable charm (sweetness), by which you, full of nectar, make honey with your speech?
~s An amiable grace accompanies your serene countenance and an eternal day sparkles in your interior.
You who satisfy with food, restore with kind words, when the dishes are put away, your words are a feast.
Who could worthily praise you, you whom the pious King so in aloud-sounding voice declares to be his ornament?
May your great honour, during his reign, last for ever
and may he enjoy his present life and think about the life to come.
Carmina, Book VII, Poem 8
i When July, which brings heat, burns the hot sand and the dry earth thirsts in a cloud' of dust,
when the tired tendril of the vine gives hardly any pleasant shade and the lean grass contracts its pale hair;
s the leaves of the grove slouch under Phoebus' heat and it can hardly defend its cool spaces.
The heifer disdains the pasture and flees from the mountain slopes on account of the heat and the horses, beset by the heat, do not even eat the bitter vetch.
The dog whips its mouth with a long, hanging tongue io and the sad sheep faintly pants.
The wanderer who travels during the hot hours
is burnt when the hair catches fire under the pressure of the sun.
Often he eagerly wishes, when the earth is dry, for a runnel to refresh himself with a sip,
is or that the wide, verdant head of a tree which moves in the wind with its shading leafage would mitigate his thirst.
If by lucky chance a grove nearby gives shade
Foin~ poenzs by Ven~~ztii~s Forttm~ariis
and the fresh wave of a clear spring is purling
then he hastens there and lies down on the pleasant ground 20 and stretches out his limbs on the bed of grass.
his wishes have come true and he is refreshed by a double delight:
the shade eases the heat of the day, the water drives the thirst away, If he knows any songs, he recites them with a melodious chant
and the cooler air provokes the pleasant sounds.
2s If well he knows Homer, famous in Athens,
or Maro,2 who is read in Rome in Trajan's Forum, or if he has learnt the holy psalms sung to David's plechum,
then he sings the honourable song with a lively throat.
Or he plays the lyre, bone pipe, flute, pan-pipe:
3o every instrument pleases the birds with their art.
So am I, worn out by the strong heat of anxiety, invigorated when I know that you are safe.
Oh, sweet name of Lupus, to me always worth repeating, which is written on the page of my heart,
35 a man who once included there on the tablets of sweetness, the indestructible coffer of my chest shall keep.
You have a treasure of devotion, a costly benevolence, which produces pure talents in its soul.
Your golden mind exceeds all worldly wealth
4o and reflects the beauty of pearls with your brilliant heart.
Your aromatic mind is spreading soft fragrance
and gives the soul the good which incense usually gives;
the words flowing from your breast taste of honey and the wise things you say are spiced with salt.
45 As after the darkness of the night the morning star with its rays dominates the light of the stars, so do you shine in my mind, and as the light of the sun recreates the world when it rises,
so do your words illuminate my heart.
When I, as a stranger, saw Germania*
so you were a father and took care of the fatherland.
When I, rejoicing, was allowed to see your calm face, there shone at once for me a double light in the sky.
* lit. When, as a stranger, G. held my sight
Jolta~i Flentberg
As often as I talked with you,
I felt I rested among Ambrosian roses.
ss Your grace is the same for everyone, but me more than others did it vanquish with its love, while I hastened there.
Who shall now give you homage worthy of your honour?
I am vanquished by the subject and my tongue is insufficient.
Like the mountain rising above the man who ascends it, 6o so my love urges me on, but your honour hinders me.
But instead of me may others compete in praising you
and may each to his ability entreat or celebrate you in song, the Roman sing to the lyre, the barbarian to the harp,
the Greek to the Achillean lyre, the Briton to the crowd.
6s May they call you strong, law-learned,
skilled in the use of weapons, versed in booklore,
Since you rightly manage the tasks of war as well as those of peace, some may sing of your judicial, others of your military honour.
I give you verses, may the barbarian song give you poems*;
~o so may in different ways the same praise sound for the man.
Here they talk of your fame, there of your sagacity in law, but I shall always hold you dear, Lupus.
Car~mina, Book VII, Poem 9
You who pay attention to your pious3 duties and remember he who loves you, you who promptly give him advice in your benignity,
you who have far too much pity upon the friend who is thus more willingly absent, when your love asks for a sign of life from my hiding-place, how have I deserved that Fortunatus' hope
has at once become the kind concern of Lupus?
Nine years, I think, have I been away from Italy here next to the shore of the Ocean.
Such a long time has passed and yet from my parents
* leudos = Lieder
Four poems by Vennntius Forhalnhrs
io not a sign of encouragement in my solitude.
But that which father and mother, brother and sister and their children, that which my fatherland could have done, you fulfil with pious
devotion.
The amiable letter, so benignly dispatched in your name, has refreshed me with the waters of its nectarean source.
is And not only your letter has pleased me,
a carter, sent out for the purpose, has also arrived here.
Who, I wonder, could remember and enumerate so many gifts?
the tongue refuses to express its sweet feelings, May the Lord in Heaven repay you for all,
20 he who teaches that whatever we give to the lowly is his (given also to him).
Carmina, Book VII, Poem 10
1 How fast does Fame fly, rising on fast wings,
filling all places, having grown by her own actions!
For you are at the Rhine and I am close to the Loire
and here you are most popular, courteous Magnulfus, and much honoured.
5 So (far) has the herald's trumpet sent out by Sigimund travelled that your deeds are well-known in a wide area.
But a letter with short words can hardly express it,
since neither can it sing of everything, nor does it want to keep anything in silence.
Your principal strength is the flow of words in executing the law io and you rule so that with the new you recall the old.
During your office, with the plough of the just cultivator, the people reap the benefit of their desires from the seeds of
justice.
No one is without his property, no one pinches that of others.
You see to it that the people have no opportunity to be criminal.
is Your care gives others their salvation
JoJtmt Flenzberg
and one man's work becomes the peace of the multitude.
You are just and mild,a so that by everyone you are called on the one hand, judge for your knowledge of the law, on the
other, father for your goodness.
Forgive me for expressing myself briefly, the letter-carrier waits;
20 but about Lupus' brother the cause urges one to speak at length.
May the Lord grant that you by your merits rehabilitate him whom I, together with you, love with all my heart!
Notes
' Oversattningen foljer har lasarten spargi~re i stallet for ma~gine. —The translation fol- lows the reading spargine instead of nt~rgine.
z Diktaren Publius Vergilius Maro, Roms nationalskald. — Publius Vergilius Maro, Rome's national poet.
' Adj. pits har har inte den kristna betydelsen utan betecknar mansklig pietet. —Here the adjective puts is not used in its Christian sense. It denotes human piety.
Adj. concors betyder 'enig', 'harmonisk', mojligen aven 'fredsstiftande'. Mojligen skall ordet foras till roceris, med betydelsen att Lupus av alla i endrakt kallas domaze etc.
— The adjective concors means `unanimous', `harmonious', perhaps even `peace-making', Here it is possible that it is to be Caken with rocerrs, meaning that Lupus is by all unani- mously called judge etc.
References
Blomgren, S., 1933. Studia Fortunatiana. Commentatio academica. Uppsala.
— 1934. Studia Fortunatiana II. De carmine in laudem Sanctae Mariae compo- sito Venantio Fortunato recte attribuendo. Uppsala.
Leo, F., 1881. Venanti Honori Clementiani Fortunati presbyteri Italici opera poetica recensuit et emendavit Fridericus Leo. (Monumenta Germaniae his- torica. Auctoium antiquissimorum tomus IV:1). Berlin.
Nisard, Ch., 1887. Les poesies completes de Fortunat, avec le texte Latin, tradui- tes pour la premiere foil en fran~ais par Ch. Nisard, avec le concours de M.
Eugene Rittier. Paris.
Reydellet, M., 1994. Venance Fortunat. Poemes I:1~. Texte etabli et traduit par Mu'c Reydellet. (Collection des universites de France). Paris.
