Animula vagula blandula
Animula vagula blandula is the first line of a poem which appears in the Historia Augusta as the work of the dying emperor Hadrian.
It has been extensively studied and there are numerous translations.[1] The author of the Historia Augusta was disparaging but later authors such as Isaac Casaubon were more respectful.[2]
- Animula vagula blandula
- Hospes comesque corporis
- Quae nunc abibis in loca?
- Pallidula rigida nudula
- Nec ut soles dabis iocos
- Poor little, wandering, charming soul
- Guest and companion of my body,
- What place will you go to now?
- Pale, stiff, naked little thing,
- Nor will you be making jokes as you always do.
It was translated by D. Johnston as follows:
- Oh, loving Soul, my own so tenderly,
- My life’s companion and my body’s guest,
- To what new realms, poor flutterer, wilt thou fly?
- Cheerless, disrobed, and cold in thy lone quest,
- Hushed thy sweet fancies, mute thy wonted jest.
Some translators take the adjectives in line 4 as neuter plural, agreeing with the word loca (places), but the majority take them as feminine singular, describing the soul.
Metre
[edit]Each line is underlyingly an iambic dimeter (u – u – | u – u –), but in lines 1 and 4 the first two long elements have been resolved into two short syllables, making tribrachs (u uu u uu | u – u –).
References
[edit]- ^ Birley, Anthony (1997), "Epilogue: Animula vagula blandula", Hadrian: The Restless Emperor, Psychology Press, pp. 301–307, ISBN 9780415165440
- ^ Barb, A. A. (1950), "Animula Vagula Blandula …" (PDF), Folklore, 61 (1): 15–30, doi:10.1080/0015587X.1950.9717969, JSTOR 1257299