medieval poetry day 10
Especially since November is coming up now, I won't go back to posting these poems every day. That's just too time consuming. There will be poems here in future, every other day or whenever I have the time to type one up. Comments on these are very appreciated, as always :)
Anthologia Latina
early sixth century
Love where you are loved, mind: it is rare to recognize friends,
Rare to find them. Love where you are loved, mind.
Mens, ubi amaris, ama: rarum est agnoscere amicos,
rarum invenire est. Mens, ubi amaris, ama.
Martius the Passive Homosexual
(also from the Anthologia Latina)
What good is it that your name is taken from the name of Mars
When it is Venus who itches in your notorious ass?
It would have been a better fate had you been named Cypridos
And nature given you Mars's members.
Now lacking both you are a tale of unknown sex:
Though you are not a woman, you still cannot be a man.
De Martio cinaedo
Quid prodest Martis nomen de nomine ductum,
pruriat infami cum tibi clune Venus?
Sors fuerat melior, Cypridos si nomen haberes
et natura daret Martia membra tibi.
Nunc utroque carens, ignoti fabula sexus,
femina cum non sis, vir tamen esse nequis.
Note: Cypridos seems to be either a reference to Aphrodite/Venus (Cypros is her place of birth), or to one of the Horae [x] [x]. (Now it's bad that I had to give the book back to the library and didn't copy the notes. I will rent it out again.)
Anthologia Latina
early sixth century
Love where you are loved, mind: it is rare to recognize friends,
Rare to find them. Love where you are loved, mind.
Mens, ubi amaris, ama: rarum est agnoscere amicos,
rarum invenire est. Mens, ubi amaris, ama.
Martius the Passive Homosexual
(also from the Anthologia Latina)
What good is it that your name is taken from the name of Mars
When it is Venus who itches in your notorious ass?
It would have been a better fate had you been named Cypridos
And nature given you Mars's members.
Now lacking both you are a tale of unknown sex:
Though you are not a woman, you still cannot be a man.
De Martio cinaedo
Quid prodest Martis nomen de nomine ductum,
pruriat infami cum tibi clune Venus?
Sors fuerat melior, Cypridos si nomen haberes
et natura daret Martia membra tibi.
Nunc utroque carens, ignoti fabula sexus,
femina cum non sis, vir tamen esse nequis.
Note: Cypridos seems to be either a reference to Aphrodite/Venus (Cypros is her place of birth), or to one of the Horae [x] [x]. (Now it's bad that I had to give the book back to the library and didn't copy the notes. I will rent it out again.)