Medieval Poets

"Fontaneto fontem dicunt, villam quoque rustici, ubi strages et ruina Francorum de sanguine; orrent campi, orrent silvae, orrent ipsi paludes.Gramen illud ros et ymber nec humectat pluvia, in quo fortes ceciderunt, proelio doctissimi, pater, mater, soror, frater, quos amici fleverant.Hoc autem scelus peractum, quod descripsi ritmice, Angelbertus ego vidi pugnansque cum aliis, solus de multis remansi prima frontis acie."

"In the academy of men of letters which rendered Charlemagne's court illustrious Angilbert was known as Homer, and portions of his works, still extant, show that his skill in verse was considerable."

"Ploratum et ululatum nec describo amplius; unusquique quantum potest restringatque lacrimas; pro illorum animabus deprecemur dominum."

"O luctum atque lamentum! nudati sunt mortui. horum carnes vultur, corvus, lupus vorant acriter; orrent, carent sepulturis, vanum iacet cadaver."

"Maledicta dies illa, nec in anni circulo numeretur, sed radatur ab omni memoria, iubar solis illi desit, aurora crepusculo.Noxque illa, nox amara, noxque dura nimium, in qua fortes ceciderunt, proelio doctissimi, pater, mater, soror, frater, quos amici fleverant."

"Karoli de parte vero, Hludovici pariter albent campi vestimentis mortuorum lineis, velut solent in autumno albescere avibus."

"Ima vallis retrospexi, verticemque iuieri, Ubi suos inimicos rex fortis Hlotharius Expugnabat fugientes usque forum rivulli."

"To boast of the help you gave a brother in need is to cancel the good of your deed."

""Be glad," she said, "God brought you to fifty years in your world"— but didn't know there's no division between, as I see it, my days that have passed and Noah's of which I've heard. In the world I have nothing but the hour I'm in, which stands for a moment and then like a cloud moves on."

"One of the more controversial aspects of Samuel HaNagid's poetry is the fact that many of them are erotic in nature. More shocking is that many of these erotic themes are replete with homosexual themes. This is both surprising and not. It is surprising since HaNagid's poetry reveals him as a man who strictly interpreted god's laws, and did nothing to actively go against it. As anyone who has read Leviticus knows, homosexual activity is considered a great sin. These themes, however, are unsurprising when looking at the greater canon of medieval poetry, especially that of the Arab lands. Themes of intense sexuality and even homosexuality are not uncommon among Andalusian Muslim poetry."

"The truth hurts like a thorn at first; but in the end it blossoms like a rose."

"Born during this era of Islamic rule, the famous Golden Age of Spanish Jewry (circa 900-1200) produced such luminaries as: statesman and diplomat Hasdai ibn Shaprut, vizier and army commander Shmuel ha-Nagid, poet-philosophers Solomon Ibn Gabirol and Judah Halevi, and at the apex of them all, Moses Ben Maimon, also known among the Spaniards as Maimonides."

"Must we invoke some sort of cognitive dissonance to explain how the same man could, with no apparent sense of inconsistency, live a life of a prominent rabbinical authority and that of a philandering bon vivant?"

"Que vaut biautez, que vaut richece, Que vaut honeurs? que vaut hautece, Puis que morz tot a sa devise Fait sor nos pluie et secherece, Puis qu'ele a tot en sa destrece, Quanqu'en despist et quanqu'en prise?"

"Cil due vassals, ki tant cunquistrent, Tant orent terres, è tant pristrent; Emprès la mort, de lor enor, N'ont cescuns fors sa lunguor."

"Tote rien se torne en déclin, Tot chiet, tot meurt, tot vait à fin: Hom muert, fer use, fust porrist, Tur font, mur chiet, rose flaistrist, Cheval trebusche, drap viésist: Tot ovre fet od mainz périst."

"Por remembrer des ancessours Li fez è li diz è li mours, Deit l'en li livres è li gestes E li estoires lire as festes."

"Que force sormonte vertu. Bone est force et engins mius valt, Là vaut engins où force falt; Engins et ars font mainte cose Que force commenchier ne n'ose."

"Ci faut le livre Maistre Wace; Qu'in velt avant fere, s'in face."

"N'ont terre de Seingnor ki ne se pot aidier."

"The universe will sustain only if the forests sustain."

"Man is the same [but] of different qualities; One is worth a pearl, another is not worth a shell. Sandal is wood, arkhor is wood, [but] Arkhor is not of any use. 1"

"Adana archana karay no me Tas Wuni pyom tsetas greki vizi nun."

"Akis ditut narma ta khasay, Akis jandah palas nay, Akis ditut barni-nyasay, Akis tsur ay doran Lhasay."

"Arah-balan naga-rada rov Sadha ror tsuran manz Muda gharan gora Pandita ror Ruza hansa ror kuran manz."

"Adam akay ta byun byun war — Ak layi mukhta ta ak layi na har Tsandun ti dar, arkhor ti dar Arkhor asi na barkhurdar."

"زيادة المرء في دنياه نقصان وربحه غير محض الخير خسران"

"I counsel you, O Kings of Earth, to cease not Seeking good name for well-doing and right Spending your 'white' and 'red' to purchase honour, Which shall not wane with change of 'black' and 'white': These are the lasting spoils of Mahmud's prowess, Which spoils we share when we his praise indite."

"I do repent of wine and talk of wine, Of idols fair with charms like silver fine: A lip-repentance and a lustful heart— O God, forgive this penitence of mine!"

"O happy, happy Wisa, who dost lie At Rāmin's feet, and with bewitched eye Gazest on him, as partridge doomed to die Its gaze upon the hawk doth concentrate! O happy, happy Wisa, who dost hold Clasped in thy hand the jewelled cup of gold, Filled to the brim with nectar rare and old, Which like thy beauty doth intoxicate! O happy Wisa, whose red lips confess With smiles their love, ere Rāmin's lips they press, Whom with desire's fulfilment Heaven doth bless, And Mubad's fruitless passion doth frustrate!"

"I didn't believe in it for a moment but I gulped down the wine of my own voice. And then I wrestled with the darkness inside me, knocked it down, clawed at it, ripped it to shreds."

"O mighty Prince, whose majesty sublime Scarce deigns to mount the piebald steed of Time; Whose judgment hits the mark of empire high, As 'twere an arrow quivered in the Sky– To-day hath Heav'n arrayed his cloudy throne, The wind shoots keener shafts than Arish's own; On every mountain-angle snowflakes star The landscape, like a jewelled scimitar. And I have graced my song, as well I may, With the sweet prelude of another's lay. For whose'er of such a day hath sight, (Now chiefly when the tangled locks of Night Fall thickliest) to his mind will come the line, "To-day's the day for tent and fire and wine." The Nine Spheres' influence keep thee safe and fast, While the Four Elements and Six Directions last!"

"Waft, gentle gale, oh waft to Samercand, When next thou visitest that blissful land, The plaint of Khorassania plung'd in woe: Bear to Turania's King our piteous scroll, Whose opening breathes forth all the anguish'd soul, And close denotes whate'er the tortur'd know."

"The fragrant rose blossoms in the garden; It seems to me, this is the face of my Fairest. The tulip in the green meadow appears to the eye As the face of the Beloved sitting beside me. From afar, the intoxicated narcissus Is my Sweetheart's eye looking out for me. When I see the violets, I say to myself: 'These are his locks, or else my emaculated body.'"

"Knowledge is immense and life is short: therefore it is not obligatory to learn all the sciences, such as Astronomy and Medicine, and Arithmetic, etc., but only so much of each as bears upon the religious law: enough astronomy to know the times (of prayer) in the night, enough medicine to abstain from what is injurious, enough arithmetic to understand the division of inheritances and to calculate the duration of the Iddat."

"The ostentatious man purposely acts in such a way as to win popularity, while the Malàmatí purposely acts in such a way that the people reject him. Both have their thoughts fixed on mankind and do not pass beyond that sphere."

"Every good and evil that happens to man is decreed by God."

"Implore God to deliver you from the wickedness of your soul."

"Whosoever refrains his soul from lust, verily Paradise shall be his abode."

"The spiritual path is hard to travel except for those who were created for the purpose."

"God alone can help a man to do good deeds."

"All humans action and inaction is the act and creation of God."

"In our time the science of Sufism is desolate."

"The people are occupied with following their lusts and have turned their back on the path of spiritualism."

"Blind conformity had taken the place of spiritual enthusiasm."

"The universe is an abode of Divine mysteries, which are deposited in created things."

"I can dispel the clouds, drain the sea, or cure someone hopelessly ill. But to change the mind of a fool is beyond me."

"I trapped my breath in the bellows of my throat, and a lamp blazed up inside, showing me who I really was. I crossed the darkness holding fast to that lamp."

"It covers your shame, keeps you from shivering. Grass and water are the food it asks. Who taught you, priest-man, to feed this breathing thing to your thing of stone?"

"They lash me with insults, serenade me with curses. Their barking means nothing to me. Even if they came with soul-flowers to offer, I couldn’t care less. Untouched, I move on."