The Complaint of NatureThe complaint of nature, Yale studies in English, v. 36 (1908), Translation of De planctu natura. by Douglas M. Moffat. Pagination preserved in etext form. |
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Page 3
... birth itself is given to sorrow . The Muse requests , this very grief commands , Nature implores that , as 10 I weep , I give them a mournful song . Alas ! whither 2 has the loveliness of Nature , the beauty of character , the standard ...
... birth itself is given to sorrow . The Muse requests , this very grief commands , Nature implores that , as 10 I weep , I give them a mournful song . Alas ! whither 2 has the loveliness of Nature , the beauty of character , the standard ...
Page 16
... birth through the openings of its nos- trils to an ill - formed progeny ; but by licking and shaping them again and again with its long , pointed tongue brought them to a better figure . The wolf 375 lurked in hiding , assuming the ...
... birth through the openings of its nos- trils to an ill - formed progeny ; but by licking and shaping them again and again with its long , pointed tongue brought them to a better figure . The wolf 375 lurked in hiding , assuming the ...
Page 17
... birth to the sweet - scented infancy of flowers , now matured into a goodlier fruit . But inasmuch as I knew of this series of pictures by hazardous thought and probability alone , and not by the faith of cer- tainty , I pass it by ...
... birth to the sweet - scented infancy of flowers , now matured into a goodlier fruit . But inasmuch as I knew of this series of pictures by hazardous thought and probability alone , and not by the faith of cer- tainty , I pass it by ...
Page 22
... birth . The candle of the sun banished ' winter's shade , forcing all cold to suffer exile . Still there lurked withdrawn as in many woods an illusory winter , which the new- born shadiness of the forest had made with leaves . Now to ...
... birth . The candle of the sun banished ' winter's shade , forcing all cold to suffer exile . Still there lurked withdrawn as in many woods an illusory winter , which the new- born shadiness of the forest had made with leaves . Now to ...
Page 30
... birth , for such a birth does not need such a midwife ; but rather am I , Nature , ignorant of the nature of this birth , and in the effort to com- 235 prehend these matters the keenness of my intellect grows dull , the light of my ...
... birth , for such a birth does not need such a midwife ; but rather am I , Nature , ignorant of the nature of this birth , and in the effort to com- 235 prehend these matters the keenness of my intellect grows dull , the light of my ...
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Common terms and phrases
¹ Reading Alain Alain de Lille another's anvils appearance avarice Bacchus banished beauty Ben Jonson birth body Charybdis chastity cithara clothed cloud coin color command concubinage countenance Cupid Cypris delight diadem divine dost earth edited with Introduction Emending Ennius evil face faith false falsehood Favonius favor flattery flatulence flood flowers garments gave gender Generosity Genius gifts glory Glossary grief guile hair hand harmonious head heaven Hippolytus honey honor human Hymen Jonson kiss labor light lust lyre madness majesty marriage marvelous matter METRE Migne mind mother mystery Nature ness night numbers Old English passion peace Ph.D picture Planctu plebeian poverty praise predicate pride PROSE reason rejoiced riches scorned Scylla seemed shine shipwreck silence sleep solemn song sorrow speech splendor stars stones stray suffer sweet tears thee thine things thou tunic Tyndaris Venus vices virgin virtue wandering wanton wealth wisdom Zephyrus
Popular passages
Page 49 - ... if it does not transgress the determined boundaries of the dual activity, or its heat boil to too great a degree. But if its spark shoots into a flame, or its little spring rises to a torrent, the rankness of the growth demands the pruning-knife, and the swelling «• and excess requires...
Page 3 - Natwa, in order to call attention to the prevalence of homosexual feeling; he also associated the neglect of women with sodomy. "Man is made woman," he writes; "he blackens the honor of his sex, the craft of magic Venus makes him of double gender"; nobly beautiful youths have "turned their hammers of love to the office of anvils," and "many kisses lie untouched on maiden lips.
Page 3 - ... orphan. The sex of active nature trembles shamefully at the way in which it declines into passive nature. Man is made woman, he blackens the honor of his sex, the craft of magic Venus makes him of double gender. He is both predicate and subject, he »• becomes likewise of two declensions, he pushes the laws of grammar too far.
Page 45 - ... in the outskirt world I stationed Venus, who is skilled in — the knowledge of making, as under-deputy of my work, in order that she, un^der my judgment and guidance, and with the assisting activity of her husband Hymen and her son Cupid, by laboring at the various...