Tuesday, September 28

full moon

Dum Dianae vitrea
sero lampas oritur
et a fratris rosea
luce dum succenditur,
dulcis aura zephyri
spirans omnes aetheri
nubes tollit:
sic emollit
vis chordarum pectora
et immutat
cor, quod nutat
ad amoris pondera.

When Diana lighteth
Late her crystal lamp,
Her pale glory kindleth
At her brothers fire;
Little straying west winds
Wander over heaven,
Moonlight falleth,
And recalleth,
With a sound of lute strings shaken,
Hearts that have denied his reign
To love again.
Hesperus, the evening star,
To all things that mortals are,
Grants the dew of sleep.

-- Anonymous Carmina Burana
Translated by Helen Waddell