William Shakespeare

Carmina quaedam

saecc. XIX et XX in Latinum conversa

Dionysius Silvanus Humberto, Stephano Holmiensi, Victorio, cuncto Gregi plurimam salutem.

Stephanus scripserat: Versionem inveni quae mihi valde placet orationis illius Hamleti celeberrimae. Interpres fuit sueticus Christianus Alfredus Fahlcrantz, natus Holmiae anno MDCCCXXXV, mortuus MCMXI...

Respondet Dionysius:

Pergratum erat illum locum celeberrimum Latine legere, amice. Nam bardus sane vatesque est Shakespeare non solum generis nostri sed totius humani generis. Mihi sunt nonnulli libri in quibus eruditi saeculi noni decimi vicesimique ineuntis solebant flosculos multorum poetarum in Latinum sermonem ex Anglico convertere - Flosculi Rossallienses (Cantabrigiae, 1916), Nova Anthologia Oxoniensis (1899), Liliorum Hortulus (1926), Sabrinae Corolla (1890), Cambridge Compositions (1899). Multa fabularum loca necnon carmina Shakespeariana (Sonnets) praeclarissima ibi sunt, exempli gratia hoc carmen amatorium (sonnet):

 

 [Musa vetat mori]

Ten licet aestivo componere, vita, diei?
at tu temperie candidiore places.
Maii deliciae flores rapiuntur ab Euris,
et spatia aestati sors dedit arta nimis.
interdum nimio Titan fulgore calescit,
aureus interdum deficit oris honor;
pulchraque nunc rerum vicibus nunc turbine fati
omnia mutantur, nec, velut ante, vigent.
sed tibi quod pulchrist nullo defecerit aevo;
non erit aestatis gloria fluxa tuae:
numquam vana suis te Mors adscripserit umbris,
sed tuus aeterno carmine crescet honos:
dum spirare homines, oculi dum cernere possunt,
vivit teque vetat nostra Camena mori.

(Tr. Benjamin Hall Kennedy)

 

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
and summer's lease hath all too short a date:
sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
and often is his gold complexion dimmed;
and every fair from fair sometime declines,
by chance, or nature's changing course, untrimmed.
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his shade,
when in eternal lines to time thou growest:
so long as men can breathe, or eye can see,
so long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

 

Si plura legere vultis, habeo...

Valete.

Dabam a.d. XVII Kal. Iul. a.s.n. MM e domo Birminghamiensi.

 

* * *

 

Dionysius Silvanus Humberto, Stephano Holmiensi, Victorio, reliquis sodalibus salutem.

Alteram versionem Hugh Andrew Johnstone Muro composuit quam e Sabrinae Corolla nunc exscribo: Regia enim Schola Salopiensis (Shrewsbury School), ad flumen Sabrinam (Severn) posita, multos flosculos a viris doctissimis Oxoniensibus Latine Graeceque reddendos anno 1890 curavit:

 

[Grande Certamen]

Esse iuvet necne esse, hoc in discrimen agendumst:
utrum tandem animo sit honestius inmoderatae
glandes pertolerare et spicula fortunai,
an contra aerumnas ipsum maris instar habentes
arma capessere et obstando pacare per aevum.
mors sopor est, nil praeterea; sed scire soporem
posse animi angores et vulnera naturai
innumerabilia, humanis contingere sueta,
pacare, est nobis optandus terminu' talis.
mors sopor; at fors visa ferat sopor: haeret ibi res.
quippe etenim somno in mortis quae somnia possunt
accidere, excusso mortalis turbine vitae?
hinc pausam damus; hoc perpenso, denique cunctis
pergimus aerumnis affectum porro agere aevum.
quis ludibria enim atque aetatis verbera ferret,
quisve superborum fastidia vimve potentum
iustitiaeve moras, quis spreti vulnus amoris
lictorisve supercilium aut indigna malorum
facta quibus vexant summissos inque merentes,
ense mero tabulas cum conficere ipse potesset?
quis grave onus fessae vitai pertoleraret
cum grunnitibus ac multis sudoribus aegris,
ni metus ille, aliquid nobis ne in morte ferat fors,
inque reperta loci ratio, a quo fine viator
nemo usquam remigrat, perculsum distraheret cor?
ergo damna pati praesentia malumus ista
quam nobis nova perfugium atque incognita habere.
haec animus versans timidos nos efficit omnes,
nativusque colos ac strenua vis animai
tabescunt aegrae palloribus oblita curae;
coeptaque persaepe egregia et molimine magno
declinant sese pravos rationibus istis
in cursus, ea quae fuerant iam indigna cluere.

 

Valete.

Dabam a.d. XVII Kal. Iul. a.s.n. MM e domo Birminghamiensi.

 

* * *

 

Dionysius Silvanus Humberto et sodalibus s.d.p.

... Et hos versus inveni e fabula Caledonica - the Scottish play - nam histriones nostri superstitione imbuti credunt laevum esse Macbeth etiam nominare... Sermo intimus est celeberrimus in quo Macbeth intra se meditatur:

 

[Vita quid est?]

Crastina quaeque dies, una, altera, tertia porro,
protelo hoc itiner miserabile continuato
repit ad extremum usque peracti temporis hilum,
nullaque lux hesterna viam non pulverulentae
mortis monstravit stolidis. age cede, brevis fax.
vitast umbra vagans; miser est per pulpita qui se
iactat hians horam mimus, nec praeterea usquam
auditur: fatui delirast fabula quaedam,
plena sono rabieque, omni tamen indiga sensu.

[Tr. Hugh Andrew Johnstone Munro]

 

To-morrow and to-morrow, and to-morrow
creeps in this petty pace from day to day
to the last syllable of recorded time,
and all our yesterdays have lighted fools
the way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
that struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
and then is heard no more: it is a tale
told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
signifying nothing.

 

Curate ut bene valeatis omnes.

Dabam a.d. XVII Kal. Iul. a.s.n. MM e domo Birminghamiensi.

 

* * *

 

Dionysius Silvanus Humberto et sodalibus salutem

Ecce carmen insigne Shakespearianum (sonnet) ab A.T. Barton in Latinum sermonem conversum (e Nova Anthologia Oxoniensi, MDCCCXCIX):

 

Ut pelagi fluctus lapidosa ad litora currunt,
ad finem properant tempora nostra suum.
excipit hora horas, undam premit unda priorem,
contendunt omnes ulteriora sequi.
natus in immensas sol ingens luminis oras
repit iter, donec robur adultus habet.
gloria tum pravis defectibus illa laborat,
et tempus donum volt violare suum.
tempus amat roseae florem foedare iuventae,
rugas in niveo corpore tempus arat.
tempus edit rari quidquid natura creavit,
statque nihil quod non denique falce metat.
sed versu hoc tua laus venturum stabit in aevum,
in te saevierit quamlibet illa manus.

 

Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,
So do our minutes hasten to their end;
Each changing place with that which goes before,
In sequent toil all forwards do contend.
Nativity, once in the main of light,
Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown'd,
Crooked eclipses 'gainst his glory fight,
And Time that gave doth now his gift confound.
Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth
And delves the parallels in beauty's brow,
Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth,
And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow:
And yet to times in hope my verse shall stand,
Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand.

 

Valete.

Dabam a.d. XVI Kal. Iul. a.s.n. MM e domo Birminghamiensi.

 

* * *

 

Dionysius Silvanus Humberto et sodalibus s.d.p.

Dolenter fero hanc incommoditatem quae nuperrime in Grege nostro orta est, quo in loco lenitatem, facilitatem, indulgentiam semper adhuc inveni. Quare animos, quaeso obsecroque, tranquillemus, et si quando cuiusdam litterae nobis non placeant, tacite praetereamus. Haec enim ad philosophorum morem de vita nostra scribit poeta scaenicus Shakespeare in Tempestate quae forsitan nobis iamiam meditanda sint:

 

[Actast Fabula]

Terminus hic ludis: abiit, ceu, spiritus, actor
quicumque intererat (monui prius illud) in auras,
auras in tenues; et, uti fundamine cassa
haec rerum simulacra, palatia fulgida luxu,
nube coronatae turres, augustaque fana,
orbis et ipse ingens, quique hunc colit, omnis ad unum
dissolvetur et, ut species evanida pompae,
diffugient res una ipsae rerumque ruinae.
gens sumus imbecilla merisque simillima visis,
parvaque, ut occepit, finitur vita sopore.

[Tr. Hugh Andrew Johnstone Munro]

 

Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air;
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.

 

Opto bene valeatis omnes.

Dabam a.d. XV Kal. Iul. a.s.n. MM e domo Birminghamiensi.