METRICAL HAIKU

MONTIS ERYCIS IN CLIVO
Sub axe celat
Nubifer insula se
Praebetque nobis.

Under the heavens
The cloud-bearing island
Conceals and reveals itself to us.

 

GOLDEN LINE

DE MODIS METRICIS
Plurima inaspectis generantur praemia mendis.
Many rewards are born from unseen mistakes.

 

EPIGRAM

MARSALAE LACUNA SALSA
Prevailing winds and shallow water bring kitesurfers from all over to Lo Stagnone, Marsala’s Salt Lagoon.

Proni desaliunt homines e nubibus altis,
   Piscibus humani praeda petuntur aquae.
Infimus unda summa quo nunc misceat aer,
   Dimidiae mundi conveniantque duae.

THE SALT LAGOON OF MARSALA
Downward people jump from the high clouds,
   And are sought as prey by the fish of the water.
Where the bottom of the air now mixes with the top of the wave,
   Let two halves of the world meet.

 

VARIA

CLOACINA (Iambic Trimeter)
In aede comis non iacet potens dea,
Nec saltat infans candidis in fontibus;
Contra videntes marmorosa odit Venus.
Ubique regnat, funditus mundum quatit.

The powerful goddess does not lie affably in the temple,
Nor does she dance, unspeaking, in shining white fountains;
To the contrary, marble Venus hates those staring at her.
She reigns everywhere, shaking the world from its foundation.