Letter 17

LETTER XVI Sidonius to his dear Firminus, greetings. 1. If you recall, my dear son, you had charged me with the task of joining this ninth book, dedicated especially to you, to the other eight, which I wrote for Constantius -- a man of singular genius, of salutary counsel, and certainly, in public discussions, surpassing all other eloquent men in the gifts of a superior eloquence, whether the cause requires arguments of varied or of equal weight. The promise is fulfilled, not precisely, perhaps, but at least promptly. 2. For when I happened to come home after visiting the dioceses, if any draft lay carelessly about on decaying and worm-eaten parchments, I copied it out quickly and in haste as a hurrying transcriber, undeterred by the winter season from completing your instructions at once -- though the ink froze solid on the page and the drops were harder than the pen, so that you would have judged them, under the pressure of writing fingers, not to flow but to shatter. Even so, I took care to discharge my obligation before the west wind should wed our December -- which you call Numa's month -- to its natal rains with its warm breath. 3. It remains that, with you as judge, I should not demand two utterly incompatible things: maturity and speed together. For whenever any book is ordered to be written quickly, the author looks for honor not so much from merit as from obedience. For the rest, since you declare that the iambics recently sent to Gelasius, that most generous of men, have pleased you, I shall present you too with these verses in the Sapphic meter of Mytilene. [Here follows a poem of approximately 60 lines in Sapphic meter, in which Sidonius surveys his literary career -- epic verse, elegiac couplets, hendecasyllables, Sapphic odes -- and then announces his solemn resolution to abandon poetry now that he has entered the clergy. He declares he will write only hymns to the martyrs, particularly Saturninus of Toulouse, and promises to honor the patron saints who have aided him through his labors, closing with the observation that "what the strings cannot sound, the heart will sing."] 4. Let us return at the end to the oratorical style, to conclude the present subject in the order once established, lest, if we close a prose work with musical epilogues, it should appear -- according to the rules of Horace -- that where an amphora was begun, a jug has emerged instead. Farewell.

EPISTULA XVI Sidonius Firmino suo salutem. 1. Si recordaris, domine fili, hoc mihi iniunxeras, ut hic nonus libellus peculiariter tibi dictatus ceteris octo copularetur, quos ad Constantium scripsi, virum singularis ingenii, consilii salutaris, certe in tractatibus publicis ceteros eloquentes, seu diversa sive paria decernat, praestantioris facundiae dotibus antecellentem. sponsio impleta est, non exacte quidem, sed vel instanter. 2. nam peragratis forte dioecesibus cum domum veni, si quod schedium temere iacens chartulis putribus ac veternosis continebatur, raptim coactimque translator festinus exscripsi, tempore hiberno nil retardatus, quin actutum iussa complerem, licet antiquarium moraretur insiccabilis gelu pagina et calamo durior gutta, quam iudicasses imprimentibus digitis non fluere sed frangi. sic quoque tamen compotem officii prius agere curavi, quam duodecimum nostrum, quem Numae mensem vos nuncupatis, Favonius flatu teporo, pluviisque natalibus maritaret. 3. restat, ut te arbitro non reposcamus res omnino discrepantissimas, maturitatem celeritatemque. nam quotiens liber quispiam scribi cito iubetur, non tantum honorem spectat auctor a merito quantum ab obsequio. de reliquo, quia tibi nuper ad Gelasium virum sat benignissimum missos iambicos placuisse pronuntias, per hos te quoque Mitylenaei oppidi vernulas munerabor. Iam per alternum pelagus loquendi egit audacem mea cymba cursum nec bipertito timuit fluento      flectere clavum. Solvit antennas, legit alta vela, palmulam ponit manus, atque transtris litori iunctis petit osculandum      saltus harenam. Mussitans quamquam chorus invidorum prodat hirritu rabiem canino, nil palam sane loquitur pavetque      publica puncta. Verberant puppim, quatiunt carinam, ventilant spondas laterum rotundas, arborem circa volitant sinistrae      sibila linguae. Nos tamen rectam comite arte proram, nil tumescentes veriti procellas, sistimus portu, geminae potiti      fronde coronae, Quam mihi indulsit populus Quirini, blattifer vel quam tribuit senatus, quam peritorum dedit ordo consors      iudiciorum, Cum meis poni statuam perennem Nerva Traianus titulis videret, inter auctores utriusque fixam      bybliothecae; Quamque post, visus prope, post bilustre tempus accepi, capiens honorem, qui patrum ac plebis simul unus olim      iura gubernat. Praeter heroos ioca multa multis texui pannis; elegos frequenter subditos senis pedibus rotavi      commate bino. Nunc per undenas equitare suetus syllabas lusi celer atque metro Sapphico creber cecini, citato      rarus iambo. Nec recordari queo, quanta quondam scripserim primo iuvenis calore; unde pars maior utinam taceri      possit et abdi! Nam senectutis propiore meta, quicquid extremis sociamur annis, plus pudet, si quid leve lusit aetas,      nunc reminisci. Quod perhorrescens ad epistularum transtuli cultum genus omne curae, ne reus cantu petulantiore      sim reus actu; Neu puter solvi per amoena dicta, schema si chartis phalerasque iungam, clerici ne quid maculet rigorem      fama poetae. Denique ad quodvis epigramma posthac non ferar pronus, teneroque metro vel gravi nullum cito cogar exhinc      promere carmen: Persecutorum nisi quaestiones forsitan dicam meritosque caelum martyras mortis pretio parasse      praemia vitae. E quibus primum mihi psallat hymnus qui Tolosatem tenuit cathedram, de gradu summo Capitoliorum      praecipitatum; Quem negatorem Iovis ac Minervae et crucis Christi bona confitentem vinxit ad tauri latus iniugati      plebs furibunda, Ut per abruptum bove concitato spargeret cursus lacerum cadaver cautibus tinctis calida soluti      pulte cerebri. Post Saturninum volo plectra cantent, quos patronorum reliquos probavi anxio duros mihi per labores      auxiliatos, Singulos quos nunc pia nuncupatim non valent versu cohibere verba; quos tamen chordae nequeunt sonare,      corda sonabunt. 4. Redeamus in fine ad oratorium stilum materiam praesentem proposito semel ordine terminaturi, ne, si epilogis musicis opus prosarium clauserimus, secundum regulas Flacci, ubi amphora coepit institui, urceus potius exisse videatur. vale. Apollinaris Sidonius The Miscellany The Latin Library The Classics Page