Two Translations 1. The Cotton Maxims (from the Anglo-Saxon) A king shall rule a kingdom. Cities are visible from afar, Cunning giants' work, which are on this earth, Marvelous work of wall-stones. Wind is the swiftest in the sky, Thunder is sometimes the loudest-- the hosts of Christ are many-- Wyrd is the strongest. Winter is the coldest, Spring is the frostiest, it is the longest cold, Summer brightest with sun, the sun is the hottest, Harvest the most glorious it brings to men The fruits of the year which God sends to them. Truth is the most evident; treasure is the dearest, Gold to each man; and the old the wisest, Experienced form past years, he who had endured much. Grief clings remarkably; clouds pass away. Good companions exhort the young prince To the battle and to the ring-giving. Courage is in an eorl. The sword is often against the helm During battle. A hawk often remains wild Even on the glove. The wolf is in a grove Wretched recluse. A boar dwells in wood, Strong of tusk-might. The good man at home Strives for glory. The spear is in hand, A javelin adorned in gold. A gem in a ring Stands steep and wide. A river mixes With the sea-flood in the waves. A mast is on a ship, The sailyard hanging. Sword is at side, Noble iron. The dragon dwells in a mound, Old, arrogant in ornaments; fish conceive Their kind in water; the king in hall hands out rings. The bear is on the heath, Old and terrible. A stream from the downs Flows flood-grey. The fyrd comes together, A troop strong in glory. Fidelity is in an eorl, Wisdom in a man. The forest flowers With blossoms upon the ground; the beech stands On the green earth. God is in heaven, The Judge of Deeds. A door is on a hall, The house's wide mouth. A boss is on a shield, Secure finger-fort. A bird Sports up into the air; salmon in the pool often Dart about with trout. A shower from heaven Mixes with the wind coming into this world. The thief goes out in stormeir weather. Giants in the fens Live alone on land. A girl, a maiden, Often seeks her lover in secret ways, if she does not wish a man From the folk to buy her with rings. The sea surges with salt, Cloud and sea-flood, around each of all the lands; Mountain streams flow. Cattle on earth Breed and multiply; stars in heaven Shine brightly, as the Measurer bade them to. Good fights against evil, youth against age, Life against death, light against dark, Fyrd against fyrd, enemy against others, Foe against foe fight around the land, Start hostilities. Ever should the wise man think Uopn the strife in this world, ever the thief hang To justly repay for the crime he had done Against mankind. The Measurer alone knows Whither the soul shall turn afterwards, And all the spirits which turn to God After the day of death await judgement in the Father's outstretched arms. That destined to come Is dark and secret; the Lord alone knows, The preserving Father. No one ever comes Hither under these roofs who might here truly Tell to men what sort of thing is the Measurer's creation, Camp of the victorious, where he Himself dwells. NOTES: Wyrd is the Anglo-Saxon name for fate, preserved in the older sense of the word ``weird", that Shakespeare meant when he called the women MacBeth met ``Weird Sisters." The rings mentioned are rings of gold, which the poet thought were a medium of exchange in earlier days, but for which there have not been found any archeological evidence. Fyrd was the troop levy that the king called out in times of war to defend the kingdom. 2. Apud Sappho One might say the wonder of horse, another infantry, an armada yet a third, is the most brilliant sight on the black earth. But I say it's who you love. Lucid is the proof: that mortal woman of mankind first in beauty, Helen, her husband forsake, noble man, sailed to Troy without thought of kin neither daughter nor dear parents; the Queen of Cyprus seduced her from her stout home. While women unite in their upwelling passion, men divide with their might, a sadness reminding me of Anaktoria, miles away on a dark ship, whose soft walk and sunlit face I'd rather see than armored infantry or Lydia's chariots charging about in bright array. NOTE: This was based on Fr. 16 of Sappho's poems, one of the more complete pieces. Sappho wrote in qualitative verse, where I used alliterative verse based on the Anglo-Saxon model. ================================================================= Both poems are copyright 1996, and I would like to be asked for permission before reprinting.