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The second manuscript will be written in Latin, focusing on a lyric poem from Horace’s Odes. This particular piece (III.xxx) describes the author’s poetry as being more solid and lasting than a physical monument, a great claim for the citizen of a nation known for its architectural marvels. In this way, it emphasizes the monumental, essentially three-dimensional, quality of the written word. This page will be illuminated with what is most commonly called the high medieval style, with the incorporation of ancient Roman art forms for emphasis: in particular, the Second—or Architectural—Pompeiian style of painting, which relies strongly on illusionistic architectural forms, will be useful to this end. The high medieval style is characterized by lavish, unmixed jewel-tone paints which earned that name from being made of powdered gems such as azurite, malachite, and most precious of all, lapis lazuli. Gold leaf was also used liberally for accents. The poem itself will likely be written using the Early Gothic bookhand, popular from the 11th to the 12th centuries, and possibly employing Roman Square Capitals for stress. The poem may be supplemented with interlinear translations in English; glosses, complementary quotations from other authors, and colophons expressing my own thoughts could be placed in the margins; and portions of the texts could even be treated as an antiphonal, providing musical notes as a visual reminder of the lyric poem’s truly rhapsodic elements.
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Exegi monumentum aere perennius Regalique situ pyramidum altius, Quod non imber edax, non Aquilo impotens Possit diruere aut innumerabilis Annorum series et fuga temporum. Non omnis moriar, multaque pars mei Vitabit Libitinam: usque ego postera Crescam laude recens, dum Capitolium Scandet cum tacita virgine pontifex. Dicar, qua violens obstrepit Aufidus Et qua pauper aquae Daunus agrestium Regnavit populorum, ex humili potens Princeps Aeolium carmen ad Italos Deduxisse modos. Sume superbiam Quaesitam meritis et mihi Delphica Lauro cinge volens, Melpomene, comam.
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A monument, more durable than brass And higher than the pyramids that stand Laid out for kings, I’ve built with pen in hand, Which neither greedy rain nor frantic thrash Of wind can overthrow, nor flights of years Unnumbered, nor the seasons’ gyring gears. I shall not wholly die, but cheat the lash Of Death in greater part: for future tongues Shall cultivate my praise, as long as vestal Maid and priest ascend the Capitol In silence. I’ll be heard, my praises sung, Both where the rapid Aufid river roars, And where king Daunus, from his sapless shores, Once ruled a rustic tribe: though I am sprung From Apulian clay, yet I command Great power in my prime: I was the first To bend to Roman measure Grecian verse. With conscious pride and honor, take upon Yourself, Melpomene, the glory thine That I have earned, and graciously entwine My brow with verdant Delphi’s laurel strands. |
Verse translation ©2000 Julie C. Sparks.