Aldhelm Riddle 72: Colosus
ALEXANDRAREIDER
Date: Thu 14 Apr 2022Omnia membra mihi plasmavit corporis auctor,
Nec tamen ex isdem membrorum munia sumpsi,
Pergere nec plantis oculis nec cernere possum,
Quamquam nunc patulae constent sub fronte fenestrae.
Nullus anhelanti procedit viscere flatus
Spicula nec geminis nitor torquere lacertis.
Heu! frustra factor confinxit corpus inorme,
Totis membrorum dum frauder sensibus intus.
My body’s maker shaped all my limbs,
And yet with them I do not benefit from the functions of limbs,
I am neither able to walk on feet or see with eyes,
Although wide-open windows stand now below my brow.
No breath comes from my panting insides
Nor do I endeavour to hurl weapons with both arms.
Alas! My creator fashioned this enormous body in vain,
For inside I am cheated of all feeling in my limbs.
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.
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