C. 210
Mirador should be here!
[OHNE TITEL]
[SINE TITULO]
Beschreibung
The poem was probably composed in the context of the appointment of its author Girolamo Balbi to the first chair of Roman law at the University of Vienna in 1494. It is in the form of a dream narrative.
The poet dreams that he encounters a beautiful woman who identifies herself as the nymph of the Wien, a small river running through Vienna. The nymph gives a long speech, in whose course she touches on a number of topics: The poet is asked to come to Vienna and to fulfil his professional duties there. She herself has been commissioned to found and protect Vienna, a splendid city, by an unknown entity, perhaps God himself (this information has perished in a lacuna). The Viennese and the Romans are kindred, which should incent the poet to compose a history of Vienna. Next, the conquest of Vienna in 1485 in the context of the Austrian-Hungarian War between 1477 and 1490 is described and its destructions and cruelties are lamented. Matthias Corvinus moved his royal court to the newly conquered city and ruled large parts of Austria from 1482 to 1490. The nymph calls upon God for help and revenge, which is followed by an excursus on several great sons of Vienna. The Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus has received his well-deserved punishment and is dead. The nymph wishes the current emperor a long life and vanishes. In a short final address, the poet asks for her help and promises always to honour her in turn.
The present copy of the poem is pretty bad. Apart from a number of corruptions, there are at least three lacunae and one passage which has been inserted in the wrong place (see commentary). For more information, see Sommer 1991, 190-192.
The poet dreams that he encounters a beautiful woman who identifies herself as the nymph of the Wien, a small river running through Vienna. The nymph gives a long speech, in whose course she touches on a number of topics: The poet is asked to come to Vienna and to fulfil his professional duties there. She herself has been commissioned to found and protect Vienna, a splendid city, by an unknown entity, perhaps God himself (this information has perished in a lacuna). The Viennese and the Romans are kindred, which should incent the poet to compose a history of Vienna. Next, the conquest of Vienna in 1485 in the context of the Austrian-Hungarian War between 1477 and 1490 is described and its destructions and cruelties are lamented. Matthias Corvinus moved his royal court to the newly conquered city and ruled large parts of Austria from 1482 to 1490. The nymph calls upon God for help and revenge, which is followed by an excursus on several great sons of Vienna. The Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus has received his well-deserved punishment and is dead. The nymph wishes the current emperor a long life and vanishes. In a short final address, the poet asks for her help and promises always to honour her in turn.
The present copy of the poem is pretty bad. Apart from a number of corruptions, there are at least three lacunae and one passage which has been inserted in the wrong place (see commentary). For more information, see Sommer 1991, 190-192.
Kommentar
The author is not named, but some aspects of the content suggest Girolamo Balbi, cfr. introduction.
Anzahl Seiten
10
Anzahl Zeilen
209
Zeigt 1 - 50 von 213
Transkribierter Text | Übersetzung | ||
---|---|---|---|
[Principium carminis desideratur] | [Anfang des Gedichts fehlt] | ||
1 | ... Tithoni coniunx. Illo me tempore habebat | ... die Frau des Tithonus. Zu dieser Zeit hielt mich ein | Tithoni coniunx
in Greek mythology, the Trojan prince Tithonus was the husband of Eos/Aurora, the goddess of the dawn.
|
2 | Dulcis et alta quies - nec enim sopor ille nec altae | süßer, tiefer Schlummer umfangen - tatsächlich aber war es weder ein Traum noch die Macht | |
3 | Vis aderat noctis, sed coram agnoscere vultus | nächtlichen Tiefschlafs, sondern mir schien, dass ich die Gegenwart dieser Gestalt ganz | sed coram agnoscere vultus...presentiaque ora videbar
cfr. Verg. Aen. VI, 173–174, sed coram agnoscere vultus,/ Velatasque comas, praesentiaque ora videbar. In this passage, Aeneas has a dream about the Penates. The poem’s verses, dealing with an oniric vision, appear to be reminiscent of Virgil’s terminology.
|
4 | Sidereosque oculos presentiaque ora videbar: | deutlich erkannte, die strahlenden Augen und das Gesicht leibhaftig vor mir sah: | sed coram agnoscere vultus...presentiaque ora videbar
cfr. Verg. Aen. VI, 173–174, sed coram agnoscere vultus,/ Velatasque comas, praesentiaque ora videbar. In this passage, Aeneas has a dream about the Penates. The poem’s verses, dealing with an oniric vision, appear to be reminiscent of Virgil’s terminology.
|
5 | Visa mihi facies, habitus et virginis ora | Sie schien mir Gestalt, Habitus und Antlitz einer Jungfrau | |
6 | Illa gerens, cui vox hominem non ipsa sonabat. | zu haben; ihre Stimme klang nicht menschlich. | |
7 | Ni mens laeva mihi, credo genus esse deorum: | Wenn mein Verstand mich nicht täuscht, so glaube ich, dass sie von göttlicher Abkunft war: | |
8 | Sic vultus, sic illa manus, sic gressus eunti. | Dergestalt waren ihr Antlitz, ihr Gebaren, ihr schreitender Gang. | As between vv. 22 and 23, a couple of verses must have fallen out here, since the following sentence is syntactically incomplete.
|
9 | Insignis facie, patrio religata fluentem | Von außergewöhnlicher Schönheit, das fließende Haar nach heimatlicher Sitte | |
10 | Ipsa comam nodo et vultus velata pudicos | mit einem Band umwunden, das Gesicht sittsam verhüllt | |
11 | Virgatis auro velis, de more galero | mit Tüchern mit eingeflochtenen Goldfäden, das Haupt nach dem Brauch | |
12 | Tecta caput, suras et rubro vincta cothurno | mit einer Kappe bedeckt und die Waden mit roten Stiefeln umschnürt, | |
13 | „Quo nunc tendis" ait „nostro diffisus amori? | sprach sie: „Wohin gehst du so eilig und zweifelst an meiner Zuneigung? | |
14 | Te gremio excepi, te fessum errore viarum, | Ich habe dich in meinem Schoß aufgenommen, habe dich, der du müde warst von all den Irrwegen, | |
15 | Omnibus exhaustum longique laboris anhelum | erschöpft von allem und geschwächt von der langen Mühsal, | |
16 | Caesarei iuris prima te sede locavi, | auf den ersten Lehrstuhl kaiserlichen Rechts berufen, | iuris prima te sede locavi
Balbi was called to the first Viennese chair of Roman law in 1494, see introduction.
|
17 | Ut legeres. Multos non tali munere dono, | damit du Vorlesungen halten mögest. Nicht viele beschenke ich mit einem solchen Posten, | Scratching one's face, tearing one's dress, and tousling one's hair are often mentioned as gestures of mourning and despair in classical literature.
|
18 | Nec tu vile puta! Donis celebrabere semper. | daher sollst du es nicht geringschätzen! Für dieses Geschenk wirst du für alle Zeit gefeiert werden. | |
19 | Semper noster eris, mea si non gratia languet, | Für immer wirst du zu mir gehören, wenn meine Gunst nicht nachlässt, | |
20 | Ne dubita merces tanti tibi parta laboris. | zweifle nicht daran, dass du dir den Lohn für so viel Arbeit verdient hast. | merces
the manuscript's reges is meaningless and may have been triggered by Caesare(i) in vv. 16 and 26. merces laboris is a common collocation.
|
21 | Surge, age, rumpe moras, et condita mente teneto | Erhebe dich, wohlan, ohne Verzögerung, und bewahre tief in deinen Gedanken, | |
22 | Quae peragenda tibi, et nostram nunc accipe mentem | welche Aufgaben du zu vollbringen hast, und höre, was ich im Sinn habe... | |
[...] | [...] | [...]
Syntax and sense make it necessary to assume a lacuna of several verses between these two lines. Therein we would probably find the information who married the nymph to whom, but we can also guess it by the information given in v. 105.
|
|
23 | Cui me connubio iunxit propriamque dicavit | … mich ihm in einer ehelichen Vereinigung verbunden und zu der Seinen gemacht hat, | |
24 | Inde mihi haec mandata dedit: „Pro Caesare Iulo | gab mir dann folgenden Auftrag: „Behüte diesen Ort | Caesare Iulo
this presumably indicates Julius Caesar (the small change of his nomen gentilicium seems due to metrical considerations), his descendants are the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire.
|
25 | Has serves sedes et qui nascetur ab illo!" | für Julius Caesar und für jeden, der von ihm abstammen wird!" | |
26 | Tum genus ignotum et dispersum montibus altis | Da versammelte ich das unbekannte, überall in den hohen Bergen verstreute | |
27 | Composui legesque dedi, et quae moenia cernis, | Volk, gab ihm Gesetze und erbaute eigenhändig | |
28 | Praecipiti fossa munita ac undique vallo | die Stadtmauern, die du siehst, die auf allen Seiten durch einen steilen | |
29 | Sunt nostra fabricata manu et longo ordine turres. | Graben und einen Schutzwall befestigt sind, sowie die lange Reihe von Türmen. | |
30 | Adde fora, adde arces, nec non et strata viarum | Nimm noch die Plätze hinzu sowie die Burgen, und erblicke auch die gepflasterten | |
31 | Innumerasque domos cerne et lato ore fenestras; | Straßen, die unzähligen Häuser und die Fenster mit ihren breiten Öffnungen; | Rotal ... Gorgiam
this is Georg von Rottal (c. 1460-1526), baron of Talberg, 'Landhofmeister' of Austria below the Enns and councillor of Maximilian I. That he is given a Greek name which sounds similar to his real one corresponds to humanist practice. Georg has hardly anything in common with the most famous bearer of the name Gorgias in antiquity, a sophist of the 5th century BCE.
|
32 | Ferrati postes ceu sancti limina templi, | da gibt es eisenbeschlagene Pforten so wie die Tore heiliger Gotteshäuser, | |
33 | Tot delubra deum, tantis suggesta columnis. | so viele Heiligtümer für die Götter, auf so vielen Säulen errichtet. | |
34 | Templorum turres caput inter nubila condunt, | Die Türme der Kirchen verbergen ihre Spitzen zwischen den Wolken, | |
35 | Sacrificae vestes referunt spirantia signa, | die rituellen Gewänder tragen lebensechte Bildnisse, | |
36 | Quae radio Babylon vel quae variata per artem | die zu Babylon im Weberschiffchen oder im wohlhabenden Tyros mit | Babylon...Tyros
vv. 35–37: Babylon and Tyrus, a Phoenician city situated in modern Lebanon, stand for oriental splendour and luxury in general. Tyrus was also known for its purple-dyed fabrics. Nonetheless, the exact relation of these cities to precious chasubles remains somewhat obscure.
|
37 | Caelat laeta Tyros, calices et pocula divum, | kunstvollen Färbereien angefertigt wurden, dazu Kelche und Gefäße für die Götter, | Babylon...Tyros
vv. 35–37: Babylon and Tyrus, a Phoenician city situated in modern Lebanon, stand for oriental splendour and luxury in general. Tyrus was also known for its purple-dyed fabrics. Nonetheless, the exact relation of these cities to precious chasubles remains somewhat obscure.
|
38 | Quis gemma quaesitus honos, affixaque templis | denen wegen ihrer Edelsteine Wertschätzung entgegengebracht wird; an den Gotteshäusern befestigte | |
39 | Vexilla imperii vel rapta ex hoste cruenta | Reichsbanner und mit blutbespritzter Hand dem Feind | |
40 | Tela manu apparent et tot simulacra deorum: | entrissene Waffen sind zu sehen und so viele Bildnisse von Göttern: | |
41 | Illa datum numen servant multa arte magistra. | Sie bewahren die göttliche Präsenz, von der sie durch große Kunstfertigkeit beseelt wurden. | |
42 | Quidve moror? Ne te per longa exordia ducam, | Aber was halte ich mich hiermit auf? Um dich nicht mit langen Einleitungen | |
43 | Neque per ambages: Antiquo sanguine iunctum | und Umschweifen zu behelligen: So entstand ein Geschlecht | |
44 | Sic genus amborum est, sic scimus origine ab una | aus beiden Völkern, durch uralte Blutverwandtschaft verbunden, so hat sich, wie wir wissen, dieser Stamm von einem einzigen | |
45 | Scindere se mixtumque genus, sic una propago. | Ursprung abgespalten und neu vermischt, so entstand eine vereinte Nachkommenschaft. | |
46 | Quare, age, si consanguinitatis cura remordet, | Wenn dich die Sorge um die Verwandtschaft beunruhigt, schreibe daher, | |
47 | Scribe genus nostrum vel fortia facta nepotum: | wohlan, über unser Geschlecht und die mutigen Taten der Nachfahren: | |
48 | Non gentem externam scribis, non barbara regna. | Du schreibst nicht über ein fremdes Volk, nicht über ausländische Reiche. |
Dum visu difficilia lectu ob marginem folii resectam
185
ve coni. : ut O
189
meus coni. : mens O
193
fatis corr. : fatus O
196
debellabat corr. : debellat O
201
contentus corr. : contetus O
206
quam corr. : quem O
206
dicta suppl. : deest in O
209
post versum sequitur comp. indicans finem carminae O