Symphosius Riddle 48: Murra
ALEXANDRAREIDER
Date: Fri 01 Jul 2022Original text:
De lacrimis et pro lacrimis mea coepit origo.
Ex oculis fluxi, sed nunc ex arbore nascor,
Laetus honor frondis, tristis sed imago doloris.
Translation:
From tears and for tears my beginning began.
I flowed from the eyes, but now I am born from a tree,
A happy honour to a leaf, but a sad image of sorrow.
Myrrh
Notes:
This edition is based on Raymond T. Ohl, ed. The Enigmas of Symphosius. PhD dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1928.
If you're researching/studying this collection, you should also consult this excellent new edition: T. J. Leary, ed. Symphosius: The Aenigmata, An Introduction, Text and Commentary. London: Bloomsbury, 2014. Textual differences in that edition include:
- line 3: frondis > frondi
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