Aldhelm Riddle 89: Arca libraria
ALEXANDRAREIDER
Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022Original text:
Nunc mea divinis complentur viscera verbis
Totaque sacratos gestant praecordia biblos;
At tamen ex isdem nequeo cognoscere quicquam:
Infelix fato fraudabor munere tali,
Dum tollunt dirae librorum lumina Parcae.
Translation:
Now my entrails are filled with divine words
And all my organs carry sacred books;
And yet from them I cannot learn anything:
Unhappy, I am deprived by fate of such a gift,
Because the dreadful Parcae remove the books’ illumination.
Library Chest
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