Aldhelm Riddle 78: Cupa vinaria
ALEXANDRAREIDER
Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022En, plures debrians impendo pocula Bacchi,
Vinitor expressit quae flavescentibus uvis
Pampinus et viridi genuit de palmite botris,
Nectare cauponis complens ex vite tabernam.
Sic mea turgescunt ad plenum viscera musto,
Et tamen inflatum non vexat crapula corpus,
Quamvis hoc nectar centenis hauserit urnis.
Proles sum terrae glescens in saltibus altis;
Materiam cuneis findit sed cultor agrestis
Pinos evertens altas et robora ferro.
Behold, inebriating many, I give out Bacchus’ goblets,
Which the vintner pressed from yellowing grapes
And the vine produced from the grape’s green sprout,
Filling the innkeeper’s tavern with the nectar from the vine.
Thus my insides grow full with new wine,
And yet drunkenness does not afflict my swollen body,
Even though it might drink this nectar in a hundred jars.
I am offspring of the earth, growing in deep forests;
But the country farmer splits my material with wedges,
Uprooting tall pines and oaks with iron.
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.
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