Matthew Luther

Latin 403
Dr. Fielding
Latin Composition Final Project

For this project, I have elected to translate the first 130 lines of the Middle English poem
“Sir Orfeo” into Latin. In so doing, while I have abandoned any idea of meter in favor of
grammatical accuracy, I have attempted to maintain a scheme of end-rhyme similar to that
employed by the original anonymous poet, who composed the work in Britain sometime in the
late 13th or early 14th Century. The Poem survives in three manuscripts and there are multiple
critical editions of the text available which have attempted to synthesize these various versions
into a coherent whole. For the purposes of my translation, I have utilized the version of the
poem offered in Laskaya & Salisbury (1995). 1 My translation and the poem itself are presented
on the following pages in opposite columns with numbered lines, each Latin line of my
translation on the left corresponding to its Middle English opposite on the right. I have also
provided my own gloss of this excerpt of the poem into Modern English in the hopes it may
assist in evaluating the quality of my translation and/or clarifying some of the semantic
judgements I made. It appears in the pages following my translation and is likewise line-
numbered.

1
Laskaya, Anne and Eve Salisbury, editors. The Middle English Breton Lays: Four Texts and Their Contexts.
Medieval Institute Publications, 1995. Available Online at: https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/laskaya-and-
salisbury-middle-english-breton-lays-sir-orfeo.
 Matthew Luther
Latin 403
Dr. Fielding
1 Saepe legimus invenimusque scriptum esse
2 Quod etiam sciunt viri docti bene:
3 Poemata, quae in carmine canuntur,
4 De miraculis componebantur.
5 Alia bellum tractant, dolorem alia,
6 Laetitiam ac hilaritatem non nulla,
7 Aliaque proditionem ac dolum,
8 Sive antiquas res gestas, quae fiebant olim,
9 Ioculos atque obscenitatem alia,
10 Pluraque scribuntur de numinium terra.
11 Ex omnibus quas homines narrant
12 Vero saepissime amorem canunt
13 In Armorica haec facta sunt carmina
14 In primis composita atque edita
15 De rebus gestis quae acciderunt
16 Quarum Armoricae carmina fecerunt.
17 Cum possent reges auribus excipere
18 Quaevis miracula, quae fuisse
19 Sumerent citharam cum felicitate ac arte
20 Faciebant carmen nominarentque.
21 Iam ex praeteritis gestis rebus
22 Possum de aliis narrare, non omnibus
23 Sed auscultate, domini fidelissimi,
24 Narraboque vobis fabulam Orphei.
25 Orpheus ex omnibus maxime
26 Laetitiam amabat canendae citharae.
27 Certo sciebat musicus bonus quisque
28 Se ab eo honoratum iri valde.
We redeth oft and findeth y-write,
And this clerkes wele it wite,
Layes that ben in harping
Ben y-founde of ferli thing:
Sum bethe of wer and sum of wo,
And sum of joie and mirthe also,
And sum of trecherie and of gile,
Of old aventours that fel while;
And sum of bourdes and ribaudy,
And mani ther beth of fairy
Of al thinges that men seth,
Mest o love, forsothe, they beth.
In Breteyne this layes were wrought,
First y-founde and forth y-brought,
Of aventours that fel bi dayes,
Wherof Bretouns maked her layes.
When kinges might ovr y-here
Of ani mervailes that ther were,
Thai token an harp in gle and game
And maked a lay and gaf it name.
Now of this aventours that weren y-falle
Y can tel sum, ac nought alle.
Ac herkneth, lordinges that ben trewe,
Ichil you telle of "Sir Orfewe."
Orfeo mest of ani thing
Lovede the gle of harping.
Siker was everi gode harpour
Of him to have miche honour.
 Matthew Luther
Latin 403
Dr. Fielding
29 Ipse cithara canere didicit
30 Eodemque ingenium acutum attendit;
31 Perdidicit ut haud quaquam
32 Foret musicus melior usquam.
33 Erat nemo in orbis terrarum natus,
34 Inter eos ante quos Orpheus sessus,
35 Qui eum canentem audiret
36 Nisi se in animo crederet
37 Unum e gaudiorum Paradisi usu venisse,
38 Erat in eius canendo melos tale.
39 Rex erat Orpheus,
40 In Anglia dominus amplissimus,
41 Vir robustus atque fortis,
42 Humanusque atque grandis.
43 Prognatus est pater eius e Pluto Rege
44 Materque eius e Rege Iunone
45 Qui deos immortales habebantur antea
46 Ob facinora eis facta atque narrata
47 Commorabatur hic rex in Thracia
48 Quod erat oppidum munitissima
49 Tum igitur appellabatur sic Venta Belgarum
50 At sine dubio erat Thracia illud oppidum.
51 Erat regi regina praestantia
52 Quae est Domina Eurydice nominata:
53 Pulcherima erat hera vere,
54 Quae vivat cum ossis carneque;
55 Amoris plena ac bonitatis,
56 At nemo narret candorem eius satis.
Himself he lerned forto harp,
And leyd theron his wittes scharp;
He lerned so ther nothing was
A better harpour in no plas.
In al the warld was no man bore
That ones Orfeo sat bifore -
And he might of his harping here -
Bot he schuld thenche that he were
In on of the joies of Paradis,
Swiche melody in his harping is.
Orfeo was a king,
In Inglond an heighe lording,
A stalworth man and hardi bo;
Large and curteys he was also.
His fader was comen of King Pluto,
And his moder of King Juno,
That sum time were as godes yhold
For aventours that thai dede and told.
This king sojournd in Traciens,
That was a cité of noble defens -
For Winchester was cleped tho
Traciens, withouten no.
The king hadde a quen of priis
That was y-cleped Dame Heurodis,
The fairest levedi, for the nones,
That might gon on bodi and bones,
Ful of love and godenisse -
Ac no man may telle hir fairnise.
 Matthew Luther
Latin 403
Dr. Fielding
57 Sic accidit ab ineunte Maio mensis,
58 Cum amoenus calidusque est dies,
59 Atque absunt hiemis imbres,
60 Ac pleni florum sunt agri omnes,
61 Splendescunt flores in fronde quaeque
62 Ac crescunt satis suaviter ubique,
63 Hac eadem regina Domina Eurydice
64 Ancillas duas duxit, praestantias quaeque
65 Et in hora tertia ierunt
66 Ut apud pomerium luderent,
67 Floresque enascendos videndi causa,
68 Atque aviculas canendas audiendi gratia.
69 Consederunt omnes tres feminae
70 Sub umbra pulchrae arboris insitivae
71 Regina haec candida tempore brevi
72 Obdormiscebat in campo viridi
73 Neque ausi sunt ancillae eam excitare
74 Sed ei quiescere permisserunt et cubare.
75 Dormivit ultra meridiem usque ita
76 Donec tertia hora erat omnino praeterita.
77 At simulac coepit e somno solita esse.
78 Clamavit vocemque tristem incipit emittere;
79 Manus suas atque pedes suos atterebat,
80 Rasitque vultum unde sanguis libere fluebat,
81 Vestemque divitem laniavit,
82 Atque subito insanivit.
83 Ancillae duae, quae apud eam aderant,
84 Cum ea manere ne diutius audebant.
Bifel so in the comessing of May
When miri and hot is the day,
And oway beth winter schours,
And everi feld is ful of flours,
And blosme breme on everi bough
Over al wexeth miri anought,
This ich quen, Dame Heurodis
Tok to maidens of priis,
And went in an undrentide
To play bi an orchardside,
To se the floures sprede and spring
And to here the foules sing.
Thai sett hem doun al thre
Under a fair ympe-tre,
And wel sone this fair quene
Fel on slepe opon the grene.
The maidens durst hir nought awake,
Bot lete hir ligge and rest take.
So sche slepe til after none,
That undertide was al y-done.
Ac, as sone as sche gan awake,
Sche crid, and lothli bere gan make;
Sche froted hir honden and hir fete,
And crached hir visage - it bled wete -
Hir riche robe hye al to-rett
And was reveyd out of hir wit.
The two maidens hir biside
No durst with hir no leng abide,
 Matthew Luther
Latin 403
Dr. Fielding
85 Sed confestim ad regiam cucurrere
86 Armigeroque ac equiti simul narravere
87 Reginam suarum alienavisse eius mentem
88 Eumque ire iusserunt ad eam vinciendam.
89 Equites currebant etiam ancillae,
90 Plus quam sexaginta feminae.
91 Ad pomerium propere venerunt
92 Eamque in suis brachiis colligerunt,
93 Postremo eam ad lectam attulere
94 Atque ibi eam stricte tenuere.
95 Sed usque unum clamorem sustinebat
96 Et surgere aufugereque percupiebat.
97 Cum nuntium illud accepisset Orpheus,
98 Peior erat numquam nullus cruciatus.
99 Invenit cum equitibus decem
100 Ad cubiculum apud reginam,
101 Conspexit et magna cum misericordia ait:
102 “O mea vita! Quid te laedit,
103 Cum semper ita placidus fueris,
104 Clamasque nunc in modo horribili
105 Corpus tuum, quod venustissime erat album,
106 Est unguibus tuis funditus laniatum.
107 Heu! Qui erat ruber, vultus tuus,
108 Velut si perisses, iam est pallidus.
109 Digitique tui, ita parvi
110 Etiam sanguinei sunt ac luridi.
111 Eheu! Oculi tui amantes quoque
112 Velut ad hostem aspiciunt me!
Bot ourn to the palays ful right
And told bothe squier and knight
That her quen awede wold,
And bad hem go and hir at-hold.
Knightes urn and levedis also,
Damisels sexti and mo.
In the orchard to the quen hye come,
And her up in her armes nome,
And brought hir to bed atte last,
And held hir there fine fast.
Ac ever she held in o cri
And wold up and owy.
When Orfeo herd that tiding
Never him nas wers for nothing.
He come with knightes tene
To chaumber, right bifor the quene,
And bi-held, and seyd with grete pité,
"O lef liif, what is te,
That ever yete hast ben so stille
And now gredest wonder schille?
Thy bodi, that was so white y-core,
With thine nailes is all to-tore.
Allas! thy rode, that was so red,
Is al wan, as thou were ded;
And also thine fingres smale
Beth al blodi and al pale.
Allas! thy lovesum eyyen to
Loketh so man doth on his fo!
 Matthew Luther
Latin 403
Dr. Fielding
113 O Matrona, quaeso: miserere me!
114 Hoc maesto clamando desine
115 Et mihi dic quid tristis sis quomodoque
116 Ac quidnam tibi operis sit quoque.”
117 At ad postremum immota iecit
118 Atque lacrimare firmiter coepit,
119 Tum regi est ingressus sic loqui:
120 “Eheu! Vir bone, Orpheu domine!
121 Jamdudum nos primo una summus
122 Numquam nos irrati summus,
123 At semper ego amavi te,
124 Consimilis vita, teque ita me;
125 Sed nunc est nobis digredi necesse;
126 Sedulo age, agendum’st mihi ire.”
127 “Vae!” inquit “sum perditus!
128 Quorsum atque quo ibis?
129 Quocumque eas, istuc ibo tecum
130 Etiam quocumque eam, illuc ibis mecum.”
A, dame, ich biseche, merci!
Lete ben al this reweful cri,
And tel me what the is, and hou,
And what thing may the help now."
Tho lay sche stille atte last
And gan to wepe swithe fast,
And seyd thus the King to:
"Allas, mi lord, Sir Orfeo!
Sethen we first togider were,
Ones wroth never we nere;
Bot ever ich have yloved the
As mi liif and so thou me;
Ac now we mot delen ato;
Do thi best, for y mot go."
"Allas!" quath he, "forlorn icham!
Whider wiltow go, and to wham?
Whider thou gost, ichil with the,
And whider y go, thou schalt with me."
 Matthew Luther
Latin 403
Dr. Fielding
Gloss in Plain Modern English:
1 We often read and find it written
2 And these scholars know it well:
3 Lais that are given in song
4 Are composed about marvelous things.
5 Some are of war and some of woe,
6 And some of joy and mirth also,
7 And some of treachery and guile,
8 Of old adventures that once happened;
9 And some of jokes and ribaldry,
10 And many there are of the land of fairy;
11 Of all things that men speak about,
12 They are, most of all, about love.
13 In Brittany these lais were made,
14 First composed and brought forth,
15 Of adventures that happened back when,
16 About which Bretons made their lais.
17 When Kings might be able to hear
18 Of any marvels that there were,
19 They took up the harp with glee and skill,
20 And made a lai and named it.
21 Now of these adventures which occurred
22 I can tell of some, but not all
23 But listen, trusty Lords
24 I shall tell you of Sir Orfeo.
25 Orfeo most out of everything
26 Loved the glee of harping.
27 Every good harper was sure
 Matthew Luther
Latin 403
Dr. Fielding
28 From him to receive much honor.
29 He himself learned to harp,
30 And turned his bright mind to the task;
31 He learned until there was nobody
32 Who was a better harper anywhere.
33 In all the world, nobody had been born
34 Of the ones he’d met
35 And who’d heard him play
36 But that he should think that he had
37 Experienced one of the joys paradise,
38 So melodious was his harping.
39 Orfeo was a king
40 In England a high lord
41 A stalwart man and strong too;
42 Large and courteous he was as well.
43 His father was descended from King Pluto,
44 And his mother from King Juno,
45 Who long ago were held to be gods
46 For the adventures they had and recounted.
47 This king lived in Thrace,
48 Which was a well-fortified city,
49 For this is what Winchester was called at the time,
50 But doutbtless it was the same city.
51 The king had a queen of great excellence
52 Who was called Dame Heurodis,
53 The fairest lady, indeed,
54 That walks the earth in flesh and blood
55 Full of love and goodness
 Matthew Luther
Latin 403
Dr. Fielding
56 But no man can tell of her fairness.
57 It happened thus in the beginning of May,
58 When the day is hot and pleasant,
59 And winter showers are away,
60 And every field is full of flowers,
61 And blossoms brighten on every bough
62 And grow pleasantly enough everywhere
63 This same queen, Dame Heurodis
64 Took two excellent ladies-in-waiting
65 And went during terce (~9am)
66 To play by an orchard
67 To see the flowers growing
68 And to hear the birds sing
69 They all three sat down
70 Under a fair grafted tree
71 And very soon this fair queen
72 Fell asleep in the green grass
73 Her ladies-in-waiting dared not wake her
74 But let her lie and rest.
75 Thus she slept until after noon,
76 When terce had come and gone.
77 But as soon as she began to wake
78 She cried and began to make a dreadful racket
79 She freted her hands and feet
80 And scratched her face until it bled freely
81 She tore her rich robe to shreds
82 And was driven out of her mind.
83 The two girls beside her
 Matthew Luther
Latin 403
Dr. Fielding
84 Dared not remain long,
85 But ran directly to the palace
86 And told both squires and knights
87 That their queen had gone mad
88 And bade them go and lay hold of her.
89 The knights ran and ladies too,
90 Sixty or more girls.
91 In the orchard to the queen they came quickly
92 And took her up in their arms
93 And brought her at last to a bed
94 And there restrained her.
95 And throughout she maintained a single continuous scream
96 And wanted to rise and flee.
97 When Orfeo heard this news,
98 He had never been so distressed
99 He came with ten knights
100 To the chamber before the queen,
101 And looked and said with great pity:
102 “O dear life, what’s wrong with you,
103 Who was always so calm,
104 But now cries so strangely shrill?
105 Your body that was so remarkably white,
106 Is all torn by your fingernails.
107 Alas! Your face, which was so red,
108 Is now so wan, like you were dead;
109 And your small fingers too
110 Are all bloody and pale.
111 Alas! Your loving eyes as well
 Matthew Luther
Latin 403
Dr. Fielding
112 Look now on me as on an enemy!
113 Oh Lady, I beg you: have mercy!
114 Let off with this sad crying
115 And tell me what’s wrong with you and how,
116 As well as what might help you now.”
117 Then she lay still at last
118 And began to weep quite intensely
119 And said this to the king:
120 “Alas, my Lord, Sir Orfeo!
121 Since first we were together
122 We were never angry,
123 But I have always loved you
124 Like my own life, and so you me;
125 But now we must part;
126 Do your best for I must go.”
127 “Alas!” he said, “I am undone!”
128 Where will you go and to whom?
129 Wherever you go, I’ll go with you,
130 And wherever I go, you’ll go with me.”