EPIGRAM

METUS ALTITUDINUM
Deplorata humilis mortalis ego propre turrim
   ingentem graduum paula verens cadere:
Marcida pertineo fletu sublime cacumen;
   est trepidatio non, sicuti celsa dea.

FEAR OF HEIGHTS
Weeping, I, a lowly mortal near a huge tower
   of steps, fearing to fall:
Withered, I reach the lofty summit with a tear;
   there is no fear now, just as a high goddess.

 

METRICAL HAIKU

HAIKU EPIC, M-M-M
      I
amasiones
temporis omnis humi
obliviosi

lovers on the grass,
forgetful
of all time

      II
Orta occidente,
Africa cyanea
regis meum cor

Rising from the west,
sea-blue Africa,
you rule my heart

      III
alto sub arco
aureus est juvenis
elatione

beneath a high rainbow
a golden youth
in ecstacy

GOLDEN LINE

Robustus mustos portat flores adolescens
The strong youth carries fresh flowers

COMPLETE THE COUPLET

Fundo sunt primi – coco! – tanti particulares:
   (Si pulli nolunt ulla vorare bibant!)

On the farm – cluck! – the oldest ones are so picky:
   (If the chickens won’t eat, let them drink!)

VARIA

AMICITIA (Dactylic Hexameter)
Tres pulchri iuvenes soliti saltare per urbem,
perpetuo comites. Drepani sunt isti poetae,
atque popinator, cursor, lusorque faceti
uno tempore erant. Nunc aureus edit Apollo
exultans pariter melicum sub sole canorem.

FRIENDSHIP
Three handsome youths, accustomed to dance through the street,
are always friends. Here in Trapani they are poets,
and at one time they were skilled as a cook, runner, and gamer.
Now, rejoicing equally, golden Apollo brings forth
a melodious song beneath the sun.

QUIES (Hendecasyllables)
Contingunt digiti pedesque fessi
infra sidera caespitem decorum

REST
Tired toes and feet touch
the beautiful ground beneath the stars

ERROR (Elegiac Couplets)
Temptabamus iter facere instantes Lilybaeum
   litora quaerentes: est modo falsa via.

Eager, we were trying to journey to Marsala,
   seeking the shores: but it is the wrong road.