HAPPY THE MAN WHO STUDYING NATURE'S LAWS
YESTERDAY MARCO BROUGHT ME WILD FLOWERS THAT HE PICKED ON HIS MORNING RUN
AND PLACED THEM IN A GLASS
THIS MADE ME THINK OF THE POEM BY VIRGIL CELEBRATING SPRINGTIME
Alla selve, alle foglie dei boschi è dolce primavera;
a primavera gonfia la terra avida di semi.
Allora il Cielo, padre onnipotente, scende
Con piogge fertili
E accende ogni suo germe. Gli arbusti risuonano
Del canto degli uccelli, i prati rinverdiscono.
E i campi si aprono: si sparge la tenera acqua;
ora al nuovo sole si affidano i nuovi germogli.
VIRGIL’S FACE ON A ROOFTOP IN NAPOLI
FELIX QUI POTUIT RERUM
COGNOSCERE CAUSAS
HAPPY THE MAN WHO STUDYING NATURE’S LAWS
THROUGH KNOWN EFFECTS CAN TRACE THE SECRET CAUSE
John Dryden’s English translation of 1697
The Spring adorns the Woods, renews the Leaves;
The Womb of Earth the genial Seed receives.
For then Almighty Jove descends, and pours
Into his buxom Bride his fruitful Show'rs.
And mixing his large Limbs with hers, he feeds
Her Births with kindly Juice, and fosters teeming Seeds.
Then joyous Birds frequent the lonely Grove,
And Beasts, by Nature stung, renew their Love.
Then Fields the Blades of bury'd Corn disclose,
And while the balmy Western Spirit blows,
Earth to the Breath her Bosom dares expose.
With kindly Moisture then the Plants abound,
The Grass securely springs above the Ground;
The tender Twig shoots upward to the Skies,
And on the Faith of the new Sun relies.
VIRGIL’S ORIGINAL LATIN FROM 30 B.C. (GEORGICON LIB 2, VER 323)
