Candidus. Pavo Vocem Optans

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 Pantaleon Candidus (1540-1608).

Pavo Vocem Optans

Voce Deae querula Junoni proprius ales

Supplicat ut, pulchris praestet cum corpore pennis,

Suavisonam quoque ei vellet concedere vocem,

Quando ea lusciniae excellens sit gloria parvae.

Juno refert fine, "Non uni dant omnia Divi."

This is a classic Aesop's fable, and there are other fables about the animals petitioning the gods, like the camel asking Jupiter for horns, etc.

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

proprius ales

supplicat Deae Junoni 

querula voce,

cum praestet 

corpore 

pulchris pennis,

ut quoque vellet 

concedere ei 

suavisonam vocem,

quando 

ea excellens gloria 

sit parvae lusciniae.

fine

Iuno refert, 

"Divi 

non dant omnia 

uni."

And here's the meter marked (note that the first syllable in fine scans short):

Voce, De·ae queru·la, Iu·noni · proprius · ales

Supplicat · ut pul·chris prae·stet cum · corpore · pennis,

Suaviso·nam quoqu~ e·i vel·let con·cedere · vocem,

Quand~ ea · luscini·~ excel·lens sit · gloria · parvae.

Iuno re·fert fine, · non u·ni dant · omnia · Divi.

You can find illustrations for the fable here. Here is an illustration from a 19th-century Aesop's fables:

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