Desbillons: Sol et Noctua

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 Desbillons (1711-1789).

Sol et Noctua

Soli, quod eius sustinere noctua

Radios non posset, fecerat convicium;

"Non me, sed oculos," Sol ait, "culpa tuos."

In Latin, the owl, noctua, is a bird of the night (nox, night). 

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

Noctua

fecerat convicium

Soli,

quod 

non posset sustinere

eius radios;

Sol ait,

"Culpa

non me, 

sed oculos tuos."

And here's the meter marked:

Soli · quod ei · us sus · tine · re Noc · tua

Radios · non pos · set, fe · cerat · convi · cium;

Non me · sed ocu · los Sol · ait · culpa · tuos.

I don't have an illustration for this fable, but here's an illustration by Billinghurst for a different fable about an owl:

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