Bern Riddle 15: De palma
NEVILLEMOGFORD
Date: Fri 27 Nov 2020Matching Commentaries: Commentary for Bern Riddle 15: De palma
Original text:
Pulchra semper comis locis consisto desertis,
Ceteris dum mihi cum lignis nulla figura.
Dulcia petenti de corde poma produco
Nullumque de ramis cultori confero fructum.
Nemo, qui me serit, meis de fructibus edit,
Et amata cunctis flore sum socia iustis.
Translation:
I always have beautiful hair and I exist in desert places,
although I do not look like the other trees.
I produce sweet fruits from my heart to those who seek them
and I bear no crop for the farmer from my branches.
No one who sows me feasts upon my fruits,
and when in flower, I am a beloved girlfriend to the just.
Date palm
Notes:
This edition is based on Karl Strecker, ed., Poetae Latini aevi Carolini, Vol. 4.2 (Berlin, MGH/Weidmann, 1923), page 742
A list of variant readings can be found in Fr. Glorie, ed., Variae collectiones aenigmatum Merovingicae aetatis, Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina 133A (Turnhout: Brepols, 1968), page 561.
Tags: latin Bern Riddles