Alciato: Inanis Impetus

This is a poem intended for my anthology of Latin Aesopic poetry. I'm accumulating the materials for the anthology in a Google Docs folder, including a document for this poem where you will find vocabulary and notes. Comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome! You can use the "comment" feature in the Google Doc, which I will be updating with revisions. Today's poem is by Andrea Alciato.

Inanis Impetus

Lunarem noctu, ut speculum, canis inspicit orbem,

Seque videns, alium credit inesse canem,

Et latrat, sed frustra: agitur vox irrita ventis,

Et peragit cursus surda Diana suos.

The goddess Diana is associated with the moon, while her brother, Apollo, is associated with the sun. Here is the emblem:

Here is the poem written out in English prose order to help in reading:

noctu

canis inspicit

lunarem orbem, 

ut speculum,

et, 

videns se, 

credit 

alium canem inesse,

et latrat,

sed frustra:

vox agitur ventis, 

irrita,

et Diana, surda,

peragit suos cursus.

And here's the meter marked:

Luna·rem noct~ · ut specu·lum, canis · inspicit · orbem,

Seque vi·dens, ali·um || credit in·esse ca·nem,

Et la·trat sed · frustr~ agi·tur vox · irrita · ventis,

Et pera·git cur·sus || surda Di·ana su·os.

Meanwhile, for more, here are the other elegiac poems I've posted so far here at the blog. :-)