Aldhelm Riddle 32: Pugillares
ALEXANDRAREIDER
Date: Tue 15 Mar 2022Melligeris apibus mea prima processit origo,
Sed pars exterior crescebat cetera silvis;
Calciamenta mihi tradebant tergora dura.
Nunc ferri stimulus faciem proscindit amoenam
Flexibus et sulcos obliquat adinstar aratri,
Sed semen segiti de caelo ducitur almum,
Quod largos generat millena fruge maniplos.
Heu! tam sancta seges diris extinguitur armis.
My first origin came from honeybees,
But my other, outer part grew in the forest;
Stiff skins gave me shoes.
Now the iron stylus cuts through my lovely face,
With its turnings and twists cuts grooves like a plough,
But the crop’s holy seed is brought from heaven,
And it propagates bountiful bundles with its thousand-strong fruit.
Alas! Such a holy harvest is killed by fearful arms.
Notes:
This edition is based on Rudolf Ehwald, ed. Aldhelmi Opera Omnia. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, 15. Berlin: Weidmann, 1919, pages 59-150. Available online here.
Tags: riddles latin Aldhelm