Aldhelm Riddle 29: Aqua
ALEXANDRAREIDER
Date: Tue 15 Mar 2022Quis non obstupeat nostri spectacula fati,
Dum virtute fero silvarum robora mille,
Ast acus exilis mox tanta gestamina rumpit?
Nam volucres caeli nantesque per aequora pisces
Olim sumpserunt ex me primordia vitae:
Tertia pars mundi mihi constat iure tenenda.
Who would not be stupefied at the spectacle of my fate,
While with strength I bear a thousand oaks of the forests,
But a thin needle immediately ruptures such loads?
For birds of the sky and fish swimming through the seas
Once received from me the beginnings of life:
A third part of the world belongs to me according to law.
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