LETTER XIII
Sidonius to his dear Tonantius, greetings.
1. I confess that your judgment of my verses has long been so flattering and favorable that you think me worthy of comparison with the finest poets, and certainly to be set above a good many. I would believe you, were it not that, for all your great wisdom, you also love me greatly. Hence it is that your affection can deceive on my behalf but cannot be deceived.
2. Besides this, you ask me to send you some Asclepiadean verses forged on the Horatian anvil, to recite over your cups. I obey the commission, though, if ever, I am now most especially constrained and occupied with the prosaic mode of expression. You will find that the study of meter has grown cold in me for the most part; for it is not easy for a man to do anything well when he does it rarely.
[Here follows a poem of 28 lines in hendecasyllables, in which Sidonius plays with the difficulty of Asclepiadean meter, comparing himself unfavorably to the masters Leo and Lampridius who declaim before their students at Bordeaux.]
3. Rather, whenever you are gladdened by a more lavish banquet, devote yourself to pious narratives -- which I approve far more. Let frequent conversation bring these forth, let attentive hearing serve their retelling. Indeed, if such wholesome diversions move you too tepidly, being still a young man, at least borrow from the Platonist of Madaura the form of convivial questions, and to make yourself better informed, solve the ones proposed and propose the ones to be solved, and exercise yourself in these studies even in your leisure.
4. But since the subject of banquets has come up, and you so earnestly demand a poem from me -- composed, in fact, for another occasion and another person -- that you will not let me hesitate any longer in publishing it, kindly receive what I poured forth impromptu in the days of the Emperor Majorian. At the invitation of a certain friend, we had come to dinner, and upon a book by Petrus, the Master of Correspondence, being suddenly produced, I suddenly erupted into verse. My own companions too -- Domnulus, Severianus, and Lampridius -- were composing similar pieces while the master of the feast lingered over arranging the fish sauce. (I say this boastfully, or rather, they composed better ones.) These men, gathered from various cities, the emperor had drawn together into one city, and the host into one dinner.
5. The only delay was in distributing the types of meter by lot. For we agreed, out of collegial affection, that though the same subject matter was assigned to all, each man's epigram should be presented in a different meter, lest any of us who had spoken less finely than the rest should first be wounded by embarrassment and then gnawed by envy. For it is more quickly apparent, in any given reciter, whether he writes in the same meter as the others or also with the same genius.
[Here follows a long poem of over 120 lines in glyconic meter, celebrating the literary accomplishments of Petrus the Master of Correspondence, describing an elaborate banquet scene with tapestries, perfumes, garlands, musicians, and entertainments, and praising how Petrus surpasses all classical models. The poem closes by banishing the pagan Muses and declaring that God alone bestows such gifts.]
6. There -- while seeking something for you to sing, I have sung it myself. Such trifles I bring forth from the very bottom of my writing case, gnawed by mice, after some twenty years -- the sort of thing Ulysses, absent for an equal time, might have found upon returning home. I therefore ask you to pardon the present frivolities with good grace. But this I charge you, neither timidly nor impudently: that what I myself have pronounced concerning the complete book of my friend, you -- as if compelled by the necessity of the precedent -- should feel the same about mine. Farewell.
EPISTULA XIII
Sidonius Tonantio suo salutem.
1. Est quidem, fateor, versibus meis sententia tua tam plausibilis olim, tam favorabilis, ut poetarum me quibusque lectissimis comparandum putes, certe compluribus anteponendum. crederem tibi, si non, ut multum sapis, ita quoque multum me amares. hinc est, quod de laudibus meis caritas tua mentiri potest nec potest fallere.
2. praeter hoc poscis, ut Horatiana incude formatos Asclepiadeos tibi quospiam, quibus inter bibendum pronuntiandis exerceare, transmittam. pareo iniunctis, licet, si umquam, modo maxime prosario loquendi genere districtus occupatusque. denique probabis circa nos plurima ex parte metrorum studia refrigescere; non enim promptum est unum eundemque probe facere aliquid et raro.
Iam dudum teretes hendecasyllabos
attrito calamis pollice lusimus,
quos cantare magis pro choriambicis
excusso poteras mobilius pede;
(5) sed tu per Calabri tramitis aggerem
vis ut nostra dehinc cursitet orbita,
qua Flaccus lyricos Pindaricum ad melos
frenis flexit equos plectripotentibus,
dum metro quatitur chorda Glyconio,
(10) nec non Alcaico vel Pherecratio,
iuncto Lesbiaco sive anapaestico,
vernans per varii carminis eglogas,
verborum violis multicoloribus.
istud, da veniam, fingere vatibus
(15) priscis difficile est, difficile et mihi,
ut diversa sonans os epigrammata
nil crebras titubet propter epistulas,
quas cantu ac modulis luxuriantibus
lascivire vetat mascula dictio.
(20) istud vix Leo, rex Castalii chori,
vix, hunc qui sequitur, Lampridius queat,
declamans gemini pondere sub stili
coram discipulis Burdigalensibus.
hoc me teque decet: parce, precor, iocis;
(25) quaeso, pollicitam servet ad extimum
oratoris opus cura modestiam,
quo nil deterius, si fuerit simul
in primis rigidus, mollis in ultimis.
3. Quin immo quotiens epulo mensae lautioris hilarabere, religiosis, quod magis approbo, narrationibus vaca; his proferendis confabulatio frequens, his redicendis sollicitus auditus inserviat. certe si saluberrimis avocamentis, ut qui adhuc iuvenis, tepidius inflecteris, a Platonico Madaurensi saltim formulas mutuare convivialium quaestionum, quoque reddaris instructior, has solve propositas, has propone solvendas hisque te studiis, et dum otiaris, exerce.
4. sed quia mentio conviviorum semel incidit tuque sic carmen nobis vel ad aliam causam personamque compositum sedulo exposcis, ut me eius edendi diutius habere non possis haesitatorem, suscipe libens quod temporibus Augusti Maioriani, cum rogatu cuiusdam sodalis ad caenam conveniremus, in Petri librum magistri epistularum subito prolatum subitus effudi, meis quoque contubernalibus, dum rex convivii circa ordinandum moras nectit oxygarum, Domnulo, Severiano atque Lampridio paria pangentibus (iactanter hoc dixi, immo meliora); quos undique urbium ascitos imperator in unam civitatem, invitator in unam cenam forte contraxerat.
5. id morae tantum, dum genera metrorum sorte partimur. placuit namque pro caritate collegii, licet omnibus eadem scribendi materia existeret, non uno tamen epigrammata singulorum genere proferri, ne quispiam nostrum, qui ceteris dixisset exilius, verecundia primum, post morderetur invidia. etenim citius agnoscitur in quocumque recitante, si quo ceteri metro canat, an eo quoque scribat ingenio. tu vero tunc opportunius subiecta laudabis, cum totus otio indulseris. non enim iustum est, ut censor incipias cum severitate discutere quod non potuit amicus cum serietate dictare.
Age convocata pubes,
locus hora, mensa causa
iubet ut volumen istud,
quod et aure et ore discis,
(5) studiis in astra tollas.
Petrus est tibi legendus,
in utraque disciplina
satis institutus auctor.
celebremus ergo, fratres,
(10) pia festa litterarum.
peragat diem cadentem
dape, poculis, choreis
genialis apparatus.
Rutilum toreuma bysso
(15) rutilasque ferte blattas,
recoquente quas aeno
Meliboea fucat unda,
opulentet ut meraco
bibulum colore vellus.
(20) peregrina det supellex
Ctesiphontis ac Niphatis
iuga texta beluasque
rapidas vacante panno,
acuit quibus furorem
(25) bene ficta plaga cocco
iaculoque ceu forante
cruor incruentus exit;
ubi torvus et per artem
resupina flexus ora
(30) it equo reditque telo,
simulacra bestiarum
fugiens fugansque Parthus.
Nive pulchriora lina
gerat orbis atque lauris
(35) hederisque, pampinisque
viridantibus tegatur.
cytisos, crocos, amellos,
casias, ligustra, calthas
calathi ferant capaces,
(40) redolentibusque sertis
abacum torosque pingant.
manus uncta suco amomi
domet hispidos capillos
Arabumque messe pinguis
(45) petat alta tecta fumus.
veniente nocte nec non
numerosus erigatur
laquearibus coruscis
camerae in superna lychnus;
(50) oleumque nescientes
adipesque glutinosos
utero tumente fundant
opobalsamum lucernae.
Geruli caput plicantes
(55) anaglyptico metallo
epulas superbiores
umeris ferant onustis.
paterae, scyphi, lebetes
socient Falerna nardo
(60) tripodasque cantharosque
rosa sutilis coronet.
iuvat ire per corollas
alabastra ventilantes;
iuvat et vago rotatu
(65) dare fracta membra ludo,
simulare vel trementes
pede, veste, voce Bacchas.
bimari remittat urbe
thymelen palenque doctas
(70) tepidas ad officinas
citharistrias Corinthus,
digiti quibus canentes
pariter sonante lingua
vice pectinis fatigent
(75) animata fila pulsu.
Date et aera fistulata,
Satyris amica nudis;
date ravulos choraulas,
quibus antra per palati
(80) crepulis reflanda buccis
gemit aura tibialis.
date carminata socco,
date dicta sub cothurno,
date quicquid advocati,
(85) date quicquid et poetae
vario strepunt in actu:
Petrus haec et illa transit.
opus editum tenemus,
bimetra quod arte texens
(90) iter asperum viasque
labyrinthicas cucurrit.
sed in omnibus laborans
et ab omnibus probatus,
rapit hinc et inde palmam,
(95) per et ora docta fertur.
procul hinc et Hippocrenen
Aganippicosque fontes
et Apollinem canorum
comitantibus Camenis
(100)abigamus et Minervam
quasi praesulem canendi;
removete ficta fatu:
deus ista praestat unus.
Stupuit virum loquentem
(105)diadematis potestas,
toga, miles, ordo equester
populusque Romularis;
et adhuc sophos volutant
fora, templa, rura, castra.
(110)super haec fragorem alumno
Padus atque civitatum
dat amor Ligusticarum.
similis favor resultat
Rhodanitidas per urbes,
(115)imitabiturque Gallos
feritas Hibericorum.
nec in hoc moratus axe
cito ad arva perget euri
aquilonibusque et austris
(120)zephyrisque perferetur.
6. Ecce, dum quaero quid cantes, ipse cantavi. tales enim nugas in imo scrinii fundo muribus perforatas post annos circiter viginti profero in lucem, quales pari tempore absentans, cum domum rediit, Ulixes invenire potuisset. proinde peto, ut praesentibus ludicris libenter ignoscas. illud vero nec verecunde nec impudenter iniungo, ut quod ipse de familiaris mei integro libro pronuntiavi, hoc tu quasi sollicitatus exempli necessitate de meo sentias. vale.
◆
LETTER XIII
Sidonius to his dear Tonantius, greetings.
1. I confess that your judgment of my verses has long been so flattering and favorable that you think me worthy of comparison with the finest poets, and certainly to be set above a good many. I would believe you, were it not that, for all your great wisdom, you also love me greatly. Hence it is that your affection can deceive on my behalf but cannot be deceived.
2. Besides this, you ask me to send you some Asclepiadean verses forged on the Horatian anvil, to recite over your cups. I obey the commission, though, if ever, I am now most especially constrained and occupied with the prosaic mode of expression. You will find that the study of meter has grown cold in me for the most part; for it is not easy for a man to do anything well when he does it rarely.
[Here follows a poem of 28 lines in hendecasyllables, in which Sidonius plays with the difficulty of Asclepiadean meter, comparing himself unfavorably to the masters Leo and Lampridius who declaim before their students at Bordeaux.]
3. Rather, whenever you are gladdened by a more lavish banquet, devote yourself to pious narratives -- which I approve far more. Let frequent conversation bring these forth, let attentive hearing serve their retelling. Indeed, if such wholesome diversions move you too tepidly, being still a young man, at least borrow from the Platonist of Madaura the form of convivial questions, and to make yourself better informed, solve the ones proposed and propose the ones to be solved, and exercise yourself in these studies even in your leisure.
4. But since the subject of banquets has come up, and you so earnestly demand a poem from me -- composed, in fact, for another occasion and another person -- that you will not let me hesitate any longer in publishing it, kindly receive what I poured forth impromptu in the days of the Emperor Majorian. At the invitation of a certain friend, we had come to dinner, and upon a book by Petrus, the Master of Correspondence, being suddenly produced, I suddenly erupted into verse. My own companions too -- Domnulus, Severianus, and Lampridius -- were composing similar pieces while the master of the feast lingered over arranging the fish sauce. (I say this boastfully, or rather, they composed better ones.) These men, gathered from various cities, the emperor had drawn together into one city, and the host into one dinner.
5. The only delay was in distributing the types of meter by lot. For we agreed, out of collegial affection, that though the same subject matter was assigned to all, each man's epigram should be presented in a different meter, lest any of us who had spoken less finely than the rest should first be wounded by embarrassment and then gnawed by envy. For it is more quickly apparent, in any given reciter, whether he writes in the same meter as the others or also with the same genius.
[Here follows a long poem of over 120 lines in glyconic meter, celebrating the literary accomplishments of Petrus the Master of Correspondence, describing an elaborate banquet scene with tapestries, perfumes, garlands, musicians, and entertainments, and praising how Petrus surpasses all classical models. The poem closes by banishing the pagan Muses and declaring that God alone bestows such gifts.]
6. There -- while seeking something for you to sing, I have sung it myself. Such trifles I bring forth from the very bottom of my writing case, gnawed by mice, after some twenty years -- the sort of thing Ulysses, absent for an equal time, might have found upon returning home. I therefore ask you to pardon the present frivolities with good grace. But this I charge you, neither timidly nor impudently: that what I myself have pronounced concerning the complete book of my friend, you -- as if compelled by the necessity of the precedent -- should feel the same about mine. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.