Bern Riddle 6: De calice
NEVILLEMOGFORD
Date: Thu 26 Nov 2020Matching Commentaries: Commentary for Bern Riddle 6: De calice
Original text:
Nullus ut meam lux sola penetrat umbram
Et natura vili miros postpono lapillos.
Ignem fero nascens, natus ab igne fatigor.
Nulla me putredo tangit nec funera turbant:
Pristina defunctus sospes in forma resurgo
Et amica libens oscula porrego cunctis.
Translation:
No one penetrates my shadow like light does,
and, cheap by nature, I have no time for wondrous gems.
Being born, I carry fire. Once born, fire wears me out.
No rottenness affects me, nor do funerals upset me.
When dead, I rise again, unharmed and in a pristine form,
and I willingly offer friendly kisses to all.
Cup
Notes:
This edition is based on Karl Strecker, ed., Poetae Latini aevi Carolini, Vol. 4.2 (Berlin, MGH/Weidmann, 1923), page 739.
Lines 1 and 4 follow the preferred reading in Fr. Glorie, ed., Variae collectiones aenigmatum Merovingicae aetatis, Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina 133A (Turnhout: Brepols, 1968), page 552.
Tags: latin Bern Riddles