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[Hymeneal]


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[Hymeneal]


1 Ignarae nostrum mentes, et inertia corda,
2 Dum curas regum, et Sortem miseramur iniquam,
3 Quae Solio affixit, vetuitque calescere flamma
4 Dulci, quae dono Divum, gratissima serpit
5 Viscera per, mollesque animis lene implicat aestus;
6 Nec teneros sensus, Veneris nec praemia norunt,
7 Eloquiumve oculi, aut facunda silentia linguae:

8     Scilicet ignorant lacrymas, saevosque dolores,
9 Dura rudimenta, et violentae exordia flammae;
10 Scilicet ignorant, quae flumine tinxit amaro
11 Tela Venus, caecique armamentaria Divi,
12 Irasque, insidiasque, et tacitum sub pectore vulnus;
13 Namque sub ingressu, primoque in limine Amoris
14 Luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae;
15 Intus habent dulces Risus, et Gratia sedem,
16 Et roseis resupina toris, roseo ore Voluptas:
17 Regibus huc faciles aditus; communia spernunt
18 Ostia, jamque expers duris custodibus istis
19 Panditur accessus, penetraliaque intima Templi.

20     Tuque Oh! Angliacis, Princeps, spes optima regnis,
21 Ne tantum, ne finge metum; quid imagine captus
22 Haeres, et mentem pictura pascis inani?
23 Umbram miraris: nec longum tempus, et Ipsa
24 Ibit in amplexus, thalamosque ornabit ovantes.
25 Ille tamen tabulis inhians longum haurit amorem,
26 Affatu fruitur tacito, auscultatque tacentem
27 Immemor artificis calami, risumque, ruboremque
28 Aspicit in fucis, pictaeque in virginis ore:
29 Tanta Venus potuit; tantus tenet error amantes.

30     Nascere, magna Dies, qua sese Augusta Britanno
31 Committat Pelago, patriamque relinquat amoenam;
32 Cujus in adventum jam nunc tria regna secundos
33 Attolli in plausus, dulcique accensa furore
34 Incipiunt agitare modos, et carmina dicunt:
35 Ipse animo sedenim juvenis comitatur euntem,
36 Explorat ventos, atque auribus aera captat,
37 Atque auras, atque astra vocat crudelia; pectus
38 Intentum exultat, surgitque arrecta cupido;
39 Incusat spes aegra fretum, solitoque videtur
40 Latior effundi pontus, fluctusque morantes.

41     Nascere, Lux major, qua sese Augusta Britanno
42 Committat juveni totam, propriamque dicabit;
43 At citius (precor) Oh! cedas melioribus astris:
44 Nox finem pompae, finemque imponere curis
45 Possit, et in thalamos furtim deducere nuptam;
46 Sufficiat requiemque viris, et amantibus umbras:
47 Adsit Hymen, et subridens cum matre Cupido
48 Accedant, sternantque toros, ignemque ministrent;
49 Ilicet haud pictae incandescit imagine formae
50 Ulterius juvenis, verumque agnoscit amorem.

51     Sculptile sicut ebur, faciemque arsisse venustam
52 Pygmaliona canunt; ante hanc suspiria ducit,
53 Alloquiturque amens, flammamque et vulnera narrat;
54 Implorata Venus jussit cum vivere signum,
55 Foemineam inspirans animam; quae gaudia surgunt,
56 Audiit ut primae nascentia murmura linguae,
57 Luctari in vitam, et paulatim volvere ocellos
58 Sedulus, aspexitque nova splendescere flamma;
59 Corripit amplexu vivam, jamque oscula jungit
60 Acria confestim, recipitque rapitque; prioris
61 Immemor ardoris, Nymphaeque oblitus eburneae.

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Title/Paratext] "[Prose translation by J. R. [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"[Prose translation by J. R. Hendrickson:]
"Hymeneal"

    Ignorant our minds and dull our hearts when we pity the cares of kings and the narrow lot that chains them to the throne and forbids them to glow with that sweet fire which, by the gift of the gods, most gratefully creeps through our vitals and softly entwines gentle warmth in our souls; they (we say) know neither tender sensations nor the joys of love, neither the eloquent language of the eye nor the eloquent silence of the tongue.
    In reality they are ignorant only of tears and cruel pangs, the painful preliminaries and kindling of the raging flame; they know nothing of the shafts that Venus dyed in the bitter stream nor the weapons of the blind god, nor fits of anger and deceptions, nor the silent wound in the depths of the heart. For, as everyone knows, at the entrance of the temple of Love, on the outer threshold, Grief and avenging Cares have placed their couches. But within sweet Laughter and Harmony have their seat, and rose-lipped Pleasure reclining on beds of roses. It is easy for kings to enter here; they scorn the public doors, and instantly, with no hindrance from the implacable guards that bar the way of ordinary mortals, the entrance is thrown open for them—yea, even the inmost sanctuary of the temple.
    And you, O Prince, best hope of the British realms, should not even think of fear. Why do you linger, the captive of a portrait, and feed your passion on a lifeless picture? Now you gaze in wonder and awe at the shadow; soon the flesh-and-blood woman will enter your embrace and will adorn the joyous marriage chamber. But for the moment the prince, gazing in a rapture of desire, drains a long draught of love from the canvas, enjoys a wordless conversation, and, forgetting the artist's brush, hears her even though she is silent—hears her laugh and sees the blush on her cheeks and the red in the lips of the pictured maiden. Such great power has Venus; so great is the delusion that holds lovers.
    Dawn, great Day, on which Augusta will entrust herself to the British sea and leave her pleasant home-land. Against her arrival three realms have already begun to rouse themselves to joyous applause, and, on fire with sweet madness, to recite verses and chant songs. But the prince himself accompanies her in spirit as she draws near; he tests the winds and strains his ears for every breath of air, and calls the breezes and the stars cruel; his eagerly waiting heart rejoices and burning desire leaps up; sick with longing he rails at the deep, and the sea seems to stretch out wider than it has ever been, and the waves that keep her from him.
    Dawn, greater Day, when Augusta will entrust herself wholly to the British prince, and will declare herself all his. But Oh! (I pray) may you give way with all speed to the stars, for they are even better; let Night have power to put an end to the wedding festivities and an end to cares, and let her lead the bride sheltered in darkness into the marriage chamber; let her provide rest for men and shadows for lovers. May Hymen be present and may smiling Cupid with his mother approach and spread the couch and tend the fire. From this moment the prince will no longer be inflamed by a mere painted representation of beauty; he will know love in reality.
    Thus, the poets sing, Pygmalion burned with love for the charming beauty of the sculptured ivory. He was standing before the statue, sighing and in his madness speaking to it and recounting the wounds caused by the flame of love, when Venus, responsive to his prayers, bade the statue live, breathing into it a woman's soul. What joys awoke when he heard the quickening sounds of her first speech and raptly beheld her struggling into life and saw her eyes little by little begin to roll and glow with new-found fire. He sweeps the living woman into his arms and rains fierce kisses on her lips—again and again he takes and gives them, unmindful now of his former passion, completely forgetful of the nymph of ivory."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 124-125.

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1 Ignarae nostrum mentes, et inertia corda,
2 Dum curas regum, et Sortem miseramur iniquam,
3 Quae Solio affixit, vetuitque calescere flamma
4 Dulci, quae dono Divum, gratissima serpit
5 Viscera per, mollesque animis lene implicat aestus;
6 Nec teneros sensus, Veneris nec praemia norunt,
7 Eloquiumve oculi, aut facunda silentia linguae:

8     Scilicet ignorant lacrymas, saevosque dolores,
9 Dura rudimenta, et violentae exordia flammae;
10 Scilicet ignorant, quae flumine tinxit amaro
11 Tela Venus, caecique armamentaria Divi,
12 Irasque, insidiasque, et tacitum sub pectore vulnus;
13 Namque sub ingressu, primoque in limine Amoris
14 Luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae;
15 Intus habent dulces Risus, et Gratia sedem,
16 Et roseis resupina toris, roseo ore Voluptas:
17 Regibus huc faciles aditus; communia spernunt
18 Ostia, jamque expers duris custodibus istis
19 Panditur accessus, penetraliaque intima Templi.

20     Tuque Oh! Angliacis, Princeps, spes optima regnis,
21 Ne tantum, ne finge metum; quid imagine captus
22 Haeres, et mentem pictura pascis inani?
23 Umbram miraris: nec longum tempus, et Ipsa
24 Ibit in amplexus, thalamosque ornabit ovantes.
25 Ille tamen tabulis inhians longum haurit amorem,
26 Affatu fruitur tacito, auscultatque tacentem
27 Immemor artificis calami, risumque, ruboremque
28 Aspicit in fucis, pictaeque in virginis ore:
29 Tanta Venus potuit; tantus tenet error amantes.

30     Nascere, magna Dies, qua sese Augusta Britanno
31 Committat Pelago, patriamque relinquat amoenam;
32 Cujus in adventum jam nunc tria regna secundos
33 Attolli in plausus, dulcique accensa furore
34 Incipiunt agitare modos, et carmina dicunt:
35 Ipse animo sedenim juvenis comitatur euntem,
36 Explorat ventos, atque auribus aera captat,
37 Atque auras, atque astra vocat crudelia; pectus
38 Intentum exultat, surgitque arrecta cupido;
39 Incusat spes aegra fretum, solitoque videtur
40 Latior effundi pontus, fluctusque morantes.

41     Nascere, Lux major, qua sese Augusta Britanno
42 Committat juveni totam, propriamque dicabit;
43 At citius (precor) Oh! cedas melioribus astris:
44 Nox finem pompae, finemque imponere curis
45 Possit, et in thalamos furtim deducere nuptam;
46 Sufficiat requiemque viris, et amantibus umbras:
47 Adsit Hymen, et subridens cum matre Cupido
48 Accedant, sternantque toros, ignemque ministrent;
49 Ilicet haud pictae incandescit imagine formae
50 Ulterius juvenis, verumque agnoscit amorem.

51     Sculptile sicut ebur, faciemque arsisse venustam
52 Pygmaliona canunt; ante hanc suspiria ducit,
53 Alloquiturque amens, flammamque et vulnera narrat;
54 Implorata Venus jussit cum vivere signum,
55 Foemineam inspirans animam; quae gaudia surgunt,
56 Audiit ut primae nascentia murmura linguae,
57 Luctari in vitam, et paulatim volvere ocellos
58 Sedulus, aspexitque nova splendescere flamma;
59 Corripit amplexu vivam, jamque oscula jungit
60 Acria confestim, recipitque rapitque; prioris
61 Immemor ardoris, Nymphaeque oblitus eburneae.

Works cited

  • The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966.

Contractions, italics and initial capitalization have been largely eliminated, except where of real import. Initial letters of sentences have been capitalized, all accents have been removed. The editor would like to express his gratitude to library staff at Pembroke College, Cambridge, at the British Library, and at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, for their invaluable assistance.

About this text

  • Composition: 1736
  • Publication: 1736
  • Base text: Gratulatio... (Cambridge, 1736)
  • Metre: Latin hexameters
  • Notes/Queries: 1
  • Source: TEI/XML

Editions in the Digital Library

  • 1800: The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray. London, 1800.
  • 1816: The Works of Thomas Gray, Vol. I. Ed. John Mitford. London, 1816.
  • 1826: The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray. London, 1826.
  • 1836: The Works of Thomas Gray, Volume I. Ed. John Mitford. London, 1836.