LETTER XII
Sidonius to his dear Oresius, greetings.
1. A page that set out from you has reached my hands, and it bears a strong resemblance to Spanish salt quarried on the ridges of Tarragona. For on reading, it is clear and piquant, and yet no less sweet for that, if its language, though sharp in its propositions, also delights through its eloquence -- for it gives as much pleasure in its style as it gives alarm in its command. You care too little about my station and presently demand that I compose new verses. In the first place, from the very beginning of my religious profession I principally renounced this occupation, since it would all too readily invite charges of frivolity were the lightness of verse to claim a man whom the gravity of pastoral duty has begun to regard.
2. Furthermore, it is well established that any skill, if left idle for a long interval, is only painfully resumed. For who does not know that in all craftsmen and all crafts the greatest distinction comes from practice, and that when accustomed pursuits are not maintained, arms grow slack in the body just as talents do in the arts? Hence too the bow resists the hand, the ox the yoke, and the horse the bridle, when corrected late or rarely. Moreover, the shame that accompanies my idleness inclines my judgment toward this: that after three Olympiads spent in silence, I am now as ashamed to compose a new poem as I am reluctant.
3. At the same time it is wrong to refuse you anything, even things difficult in execution, since your affection deserves not to be disappointed, given that it so steadfastly fears no refusal. We shall therefore hold to a middle course: while I shall compose no new epigrams whatsoever, I will send you such letters as may be lying about filled with verse -- written, that is, before the duties of my present office began. I ask only that you be not so unjust as to suppose I shall never restrain myself from this kind of writing. For your approval would diminish me no less if you were pleased to consider me modest rather than witty. Farewell.
EPISTULA XII
Sidonius Oresio suo salutem.
1. Venit in nostras a te profecta pagina manus, quae trahit multam similitudinem de sale Hispano in iugis caeso Tarraconensibus. nam recensenti lucida et salsa est, nec tamen propter hoc ipsum mellea minus, si sermo dulcis et propositionibus acet: sic enim oblectat eloquio quod turbat imperio, quippe qui parum metiens, quid ordinis agam, carmina a nobis nunc novat petat. primum ab exordio religiosae professionis huic principaliter exercitio renuntiavi, quia nimirum facilitati posset accommodari, si me occupasset levitas versuum, quem respicere coeperat gravitas actionum.
2. tum praeterea constat omnem operam, si longa intercapedine quiescat, aegre resumi. quisnam enim ignoret cunctis aut artificibus aut artibus maximum decus usu venire, cumque studia consueta non frequentantur, brachia in corporibus, ingenia pigrescere in artibus? unde est et illud, quod sero correptus aut raro plus arcus manui, iugo bos, equus freno rebellat. insuper desidiae nostrae verecundia comes ad hoc sententiam inclinat, ut me, postquam in silentio decurri tres olympiadas, tam pudeat novum poema conficere quam pigeat.
3. hoc item nefas etiam difficilia factu tibi negari, cuius affectum tanto minus decipi decet, quanto constantius nil repulsam veretur. tenebimus igitur quippiam medium et sicut epigrammata recentia modo nulla dictabo, ita litteras, si quae iacebunt versu refertae, scilicet ante praesentis officii necessitatem, mittam tibi, petens, ne tu sis eatenus iustitiae praevaricator, ut me opineris numquam ab huiusmodi conscriptione temperaturum. neque enim suffragio tuo minus augear, si forte digneris iam modestum potius quam facetum existimare. vale.
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LETTER XII
Sidonius to his dear Oresius, greetings.
1. A page that set out from you has reached my hands, and it bears a strong resemblance to Spanish salt quarried on the ridges of Tarragona. For on reading, it is clear and piquant, and yet no less sweet for that, if its language, though sharp in its propositions, also delights through its eloquence -- for it gives as much pleasure in its style as it gives alarm in its command. You care too little about my station and presently demand that I compose new verses. In the first place, from the very beginning of my religious profession I principally renounced this occupation, since it would all too readily invite charges of frivolity were the lightness of verse to claim a man whom the gravity of pastoral duty has begun to regard.
2. Furthermore, it is well established that any skill, if left idle for a long interval, is only painfully resumed. For who does not know that in all craftsmen and all crafts the greatest distinction comes from practice, and that when accustomed pursuits are not maintained, arms grow slack in the body just as talents do in the arts? Hence too the bow resists the hand, the ox the yoke, and the horse the bridle, when corrected late or rarely. Moreover, the shame that accompanies my idleness inclines my judgment toward this: that after three Olympiads spent in silence, I am now as ashamed to compose a new poem as I am reluctant.
3. At the same time it is wrong to refuse you anything, even things difficult in execution, since your affection deserves not to be disappointed, given that it so steadfastly fears no refusal. We shall therefore hold to a middle course: while I shall compose no new epigrams whatsoever, I will send you such letters as may be lying about filled with verse -- written, that is, before the duties of my present office began. I ask only that you be not so unjust as to suppose I shall never restrain myself from this kind of writing. For your approval would diminish me no less if you were pleased to consider me modest rather than witty. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.