{"ps-lactantius-phoenice/1":{"o":"Est locus in primo felix oriente remotus,\nQua patet aeterni maxima porta poli,\nNec tamen aestiuos hiemisue propinquus ad ortus,\nSed qua sol uerno fundit ab axe diem.\nIllic planities tractus diffundit apertos,\nNec tumulus crescit nec caua uallis hiat,\nSed nostros montes, quorum iuga celsa putantur,\nPer bis sex ulnas eminet ille locus.\nHic Solis nemus est et consitus arbore multa\nLucus, perpetuae frondis honore uirens.\nCum Phaethonteis flagrasset ab ignibus axis,\nIlle locus flammis inuiolatus erat,\nEt cum diluuium mersisset fluctibus orbem,\nDeucalioneas exsuperauit aquas.\nNon huc exsangues morbi, non aegra senectus.","t":"There is a happy place, far off in the farthest east,\nwhere the greatest gate of the eternal sky stands open;\nyet it is not near the risings of the sun in summer or in winter,\nbut where the sun pours out the day from its spring axis.\nThere a plain spreads out its open stretches;\nno mound rises there, no hollow valley gapes;\nbut that place stands higher than our mountains, whose ridges are thought lofty,\nby twice six ells.\nHere is the grove of the Sun, a wood planted with many trees,\ngreen with the glory of never-failing leaves.\nWhen the sky blazed with Phaethon's fires,\nthat place was untouched by the flames;\nand when the flood had drowned the world in its waves,\nit rose above the waters of Deucalion.\nHither come no bloodless diseases, no sick old age,","f":"Pseudo-Lactantius, <i>Phoen.</i> 1 (CSEL 27:135lines 1–15–136; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-lactantius-phoenice/1)."},"ps-lactantius-phoenice/103":{"o":"Crescit, at emenso sopitur tempore certo\nSeque oui teretis colligit in speciem.\nAc uelut agrestes, cum filo ad saxa tenentur,\nMutari tineae papilione solent,\nInde reformatur qualis fuit ante figura,\nEt Phoenix ruptis pullulat exuuiis.\nNon illi cibus est nostro concessus in orbe\nNec cuiquam inplumem pascere cura subest.\nAmbrosios libat caelesti nectare rores,\nStellifero tenues qui cecidere polo.\nHos legit, his alitur mediis in odoribus ales,\nDonec maturam proferat effigiem.\nAst ubi primaeua coepit florere iuuenta,\nEuolat ad patrias iam reditura domus.","t":"It grows, but after a fixed time has passed it falls asleep\nand gathers itself into the shape of a round egg.\nAnd as the moths of the field, when they are fastened by a thread to the rocks,\nare wont to be changed into a butterfly,\nso from there it is re-formed into the shape it had before,\nand the Phoenix sprouts forth from its burst covering.\nNo food granted in our world is its,\nnor is anyone charged with feeding it while it is unfledged.\nIt sips ambrosial dews of heavenly nectar,\nwhich have fallen fine from the star-bearing sky.\nThese it gathers; on these the bird is fed amid the odors,\nuntil it brings forth its mature form.\nBut when it has begun to flower in its first youth,\nit flies out, now to return to its ancestral home.","f":"Pseudo-Lactantius, <i>Phoen.</i> 103 (CSEL 27:142lines 103–116–143; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-lactantius-phoenice/103)."},"ps-lactantius-phoenice/117":{"o":"Ante tamen proprio quidquid de corpore restat\nOssaque uel cineres exuuiasque suas\nUnguine balsameo myrraque et ture soluto\nCondit et in formam conglobat ore pio.\nQuam pedibus gestans contendit Solis ad urbem\nInque ara residens promit in aede sacra.\nMirandam sese praestat praebetque uerendam:\nTantus aui decor est, tantus abundat honor.\nPrincipio color est, quali est sub sidere Cancri\nMitia quod corium punica grana tegit,\nQualis inest foliis quae fert agreste papauer,\nCum pandit uestes Flora rubente solo.\nHoc humeri pectusque decens uelamine fulget,\nHoc caput, hoc ceruix summaque terga nitent.","t":"Yet first, whatever remains of its own body,\nthe bones or ashes and its own remains,\nit stores with balsam ointment, myrrh, and dissolved frankincense,\nand rolls them into a ball with its devoted beak.\nCarrying this in its feet, it hastens to the city of the Sun,\nand, perched on the altar, sets it forth in the sacred temple.\nIt shows itself wondrous and presents itself to be revered:\nsuch is the bird's beauty, so great is its abounding honor.\nFirst, its color is such as, under the sign of Cancer,\nthe rind covers over the mellow pomegranate seeds;\nsuch as is in the petals that the wild poppy bears,\nwhen Flora spreads her garments over the reddening ground.\nWith this covering its shoulders and comely breast gleam;\nwith this its head, with this its neck and the top of its back shine.","f":"Pseudo-Lactantius, <i>Phoen.</i> 117 (CSEL 27:143lines 117–130–144; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-lactantius-phoenice/117)."},"ps-lactantius-phoenice/131":{"o":"Caudaque porrigitur fuluo distincta metallo,\nIn cuius maculis purpura mixta rubet.\nAlarum pennas insignit desuper iris,\nPingere ceu nubem desuper acta solet.\nAlbicat insignis mixto uiridante zmaragdo\nEt puro cornu gemmea cuspis hiat.\nIngentes oculi, credas geminos hyacinthos,\nQuorum de medio lucida flamma micat.\nAptata est rutilo capiti radiata corona\nPhoebei referens uerticis alta decus.\nCrura tegunt squamae fuluo distincta metallo,\nAst ungues roseo tinguit honore color.\nEffigies inter pauonis mixta figuram\nCernitur et pictam Phasidis inter auem.","t":"Its tail stretches out, marked with tawny metal,\nand in its spots purple mixed in glows red.\nA rainbow marks the feathers of its wings from above,\nas it is wont to paint a cloud from above.\nIt gleams white, set off with green emerald mixed in,\nand its jewel-like beak opens in pure horn.\nIts eyes are large (you would think them twin hyacinths),\nand from the middle of them a bright flame flashes.\nA radiant crown is fitted to its shining head,\nrecalling the lofty glory of Phoebus' head.\nScales marked with tawny metal cover its legs,\nbut a color tints its claws with rosy honor.\nIts appearance is seen as a blend between the form of the peacock\nand the painted bird of the Phasis.","f":"Pseudo-Lactantius, <i>Phoen.</i> 131 (CSEL 27:144lines 131–144–145; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-lactantius-phoenice/131)."},"ps-lactantius-phoenice/145":{"o":"Magnitiem terris Arabum quae gignitur ales\nVix aequare potest, seu fera seu sit auis.\nNon tamen est tarda ut uolucres quae corpore magno\nIncessus pigros per graue pondus habent,\nSed leuis ac uelox, regali plena decore:\nTalis in aspectu se tenet usque hominum.\nHuc uenit Aegyptus tanti ad miracula uisus\nEt raram uolucrem turba salutat ouans.\nProtinus exculpunt sacrato in marmore formam\nEt titulo signant remque diemque nouo.\nContrahit in coetum sese genus omne uolantum\nNec praedae memor est ulla nec ulla metus.\nAlituum stipata choro uolat illa per altum\nTurbaque prosequitur munere laeta pio.","t":"The bird that is born in the lands of the Arabs\ncan scarcely equal its size, whether it be beast or bird.\nYet it is not slow, like birds that, with great body,\nhave a sluggish gait through their heavy weight,\nbut light and swift, full of royal beauty:\nsuch it always shows itself in the sight of men.\nEgypt comes here to the marvel of so great a sight,\nand the crowd greets the rare bird with exultation.\nAt once they carve its form in hallowed marble\nand mark the event and the day with a new inscription.\nEvery kind of flying creature gathers into an assembly;\nnone is mindful of prey, none of fear.\nThronged by a chorus of birds, it flies through the heights,\nand the throng follows, glad in its devoted task.","f":"Pseudo-Lactantius, <i>Phoen.</i> 145 (CSEL 27:145lines 145–158–146; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-lactantius-phoenice/145)."},"ps-lactantius-phoenice/159":{"o":"Sed postquam puri peruenit ad aetheris auras,\nMox redit: illa suis conditur inde locis.\nAt fortunatae sortis finisque uolucrem,\nCui de se nasci praestitit ipse deus!\nFemina <seu sexu> seu mas est siue neutrum,\nFelix, quae Veneris foedera nulla colit.\nMors illi Venus est, sola est in morte uoluptas:\nUt possit nasci, appetit ante mori.\nIpsa sibi proles, suus est pater et suus heres,\nNutrix ipsa sui, semper alumna sibi.\nIpsa quidem, sed non (eadem est,) eademque nec ipsa est,\nAeternam uitam mortis adepta bono.","t":"But when it has reached the breezes of the pure upper air,\nsoon it returns: from there it is hidden in its own places.\nBut the bird of fortunate lot and end,\nto whom God himself has granted to be born of itself!\nWhether it is female in sex, or male, or neither,\nhappy is it, which keeps no covenants of Venus.\nDeath is its Venus; its only pleasure is in death:\nthat it may be born, it first desires to die.\nIt is its own offspring, its own father, and its own heir,\nits own nurse, always its own nursling.\nIt is itself indeed, yet not the same; it is the same, yet not itself,\nhaving gained eternal life by the boon of death.","f":"Pseudo-Lactantius, <i>Phoen.</i> 159 (CSEL 27:146lines 159–170–147; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-lactantius-phoenice/159)."},"ps-lactantius-phoenice/16":{"o":"Nec mors crudelis nec metus asper adest,\nNec scelus infandum nec opum uesana cupido\nAut ira aut ardens caedis amore furor:\nLuctus acerbus abest et egestas obsita pannis\nEt curae insomnes et uiolenta fames.\nNon ibi tempestas nec uis furit horrida uenti\nNec gelido terram rore pruina tegit.\nNulla super campos tendit sua uellera nubes,\nNec cadit ex alto turbidus umor aquae.\nSed fons in medio <est>, quem uiuum nomine dicunt,\nPerspicuus, lenis, dulcibus uber aquis,\nQui semel erumpens per singula tempora mensum\nDuodecies undis inrigat omne nemus.\nHic genus arboreum procero stipite surgens\nNon lapsura solo mitia poma gerit.","t":"no cruel death, no harsh fear,\nno unspeakable crime, no mad desire for wealth,\nor anger, or frenzy burning with the love of slaughter;\nbitter grief is absent, and poverty clothed in rags,\nand sleepless cares, and violent hunger.\nNo storm rages there, no dreadful force of wind,\nnor does the frost cover the earth with icy dew.\nNo cloud stretches its fleece over the fields,\nnor does the muddy moisture of water fall from on high.\nBut in the middle there is a spring, which they call by the name “Living,”\nclear, gentle, rich in sweet waters,\nwhich, bursting forth once in each season of the months,\nwaters the whole grove twelve times with its streams.\nHere a kind of tree, rising on a tall trunk,\nbears mellow fruits that will not fall to the ground.","f":"Pseudo-Lactantius, <i>Phoen.</i> 16 (CSEL 27:136lines 16–30–137; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-lactantius-phoenice/16)."},"ps-lactantius-phoenice/31":{"o":"Hoc nemus, hos lucos auis incolit unica Phoenix,\nUnica, sed uiuit morte refecta sua.\nParet et obsequitur Phoebo memoranda satelles:\nHoc natura parens munus habere dedit.\nLutea cum primum surgens Aurora rubescit,\nCum primum rosea sidera luce fugat,\nTer quater illa pias inmergit corpus in undas,\nTer quater e uiuo gurgite libat aquam.\nTollitur ac summo considit in arboris altae\nVertice, quae totum despicit una nemus,\nEt conuersa nouos Phoebi nascentis ad ortus\nExpectat radios et iubar exoriens.\nAtque ubi Sol pepulit fulgentis limina portae\nEt primi emicuit luminis aura leuis.","t":"This grove, these woods, a unique bird inhabits, the Phoenix:\nunique, yet it lives, restored by its own death.\nIt obeys and serves Phoebus, a companion worth remembering:\nthis is the office that mother nature gave it to hold.\nWhen first the saffron Dawn grows red as she rises,\nwhen first she puts the stars to flight with rosy light,\nthree and four times the bird plunges its body into the holy waves,\nthree and four times it sips water from the living stream.\nIt rises and settles on the topmost crown of a lofty tree,\nthe only one that looks down on the whole grove,\nand, turned toward the new rising of Phoebus as he is born,\nit waits for his rays and the rising radiance.\nAnd when the Sun has struck the threshold of the shining gate,\nand the light breath of the first light has flashed out,","f":"Pseudo-Lactantius, <i>Phoen.</i> 31 (CSEL 27:137lines 31–44; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-lactantius-phoenice/31)."},"ps-lactantius-phoenice/45":{"o":"Incipit illa sacri modulamina fundere cantus\nEt mira lucem uoce ciere nouam,\nQuam nec aedoniae uoces nec tibia possit\nMusica Cirrhaeis adsimulare modis,\nSed neque olor moriens imitari posse putetur\nNec Cylleneae fila canora lyrae.\nPostquam Phoebus equos in aperta effudit Olympi\nAtque orbem totum protulit usque means,\nIlla ter alarum repetito uerbere plaudit\nIgniferumque caput ter uenerata silet.\nAtque eadem celeres etiam discriminat horas\nInnarrabilibus nocte dieque sonis,\nAntistes luci nemorumque uerenda sacerdos\nEt sola arcanis conscia, Phoebe, tuis.","t":"it begins to pour out the measures of a sacred song\nand to summon the new light with a wondrous voice,\nwhich neither the nightingale's notes nor the musical pipe\ncould match in Cirrhaean measures;\nnor would the dying swan be thought able to imitate it,\nnor the tuneful strings of the Cyllenian lyre.\nAfter Phoebus has let his horses loose into the open sky of Olympus\nand, moving on, has brought forth his whole orb,\nthe bird claps three times with repeated beating of its wings\nand, having three times venerated the fire-bearing head, falls silent.\nIt also marks off the swift hours\nwith sounds that cannot be described, night and day:\npriestess of the grove and revered minister of the woods,\nand alone privy to your secrets, Phoebus.","f":"Pseudo-Lactantius, <i>Phoen.</i> 45 (CSEL 27:138lines 45–58; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-lactantius-phoenice/45)."},"ps-lactantius-phoenice/59":{"o":"Quae postquam uitae iam mille peregerit annos\nAc se reddiderint tempora longa grauem,\nUt reparet lapsum spatiis uergentibus aeuum,\nAdsuetum nemoris dulce cubile fugit.\nCumque renascendi studio loca sancta reliquit,\nTunc petit hunc orbem, mors ubi regna tenet.\nDirigit in Syriam celeres longaeua uolatus,\nPhoenices nomen cui dedit ipsa uetus,\nSecretosque petit deserta per auia lucos,\nSicubi per saltus silua remota latet.\nTum legit aerio sublimem uertice palmam,\nQuae Graium phoenix ex aue nomen habet,\nIn quam nulla nocens animans prorepere possit.\nLubricus aut serpens aut auis ulla rapax.\nTum uentos claudit pendentibus Aeolus antris.","t":"When it has now completed a thousand years of life,\nand the long ages have made it heavy,\nin order to renew its fallen life as the span of time declines,\nit flees the sweet, accustomed resting place of the grove.\nAnd when, eager to be born again, it has left the holy places,\nthen it seeks this world, where death holds sway.\nLong-lived, it directs its swift flight into Syria,\nto which it itself of old gave the name Phoenice,\nand through trackless deserts it seeks secluded groves,\nwhere some remote wood lies hidden among the glades.\nThen it chooses a palm, high with airy crown,\nwhich has its Greek name, phoenix, from the bird,\nonto which no harmful living creature can creep,\nno slippery serpent, nor any bird of prey.\nThen Aeolus shuts up the winds in hanging caves,","f":"Pseudo-Lactantius, <i>Phoen.</i> 59 (CSEL 27:139lines 59–73–140; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-lactantius-phoenice/59)."},"ps-lactantius-phoenice/74":{"o":"Ne uiolent flabris aera purpureum\nNeu concreta noto nubes per inania caeli\nSubmoueat radios solis et obsit aui.\nConstruit inde sibi seu nidum siue sepulchrum:\nNam perit, ut uiuat, se tamen ipsa creat.\nColligit hinc sucos et odores diuite silua.\nQuos legit Assyrius, quos opulentus Arabs.\nQuos aut Pygmeae gentes aut India carpit\nAut molli generat terra Sabaea sinu.\nCinnamon hinc auramque procul spirantis amomi\nCongerit et mixto balsama cum folio:\nNon casiae mitis nec olentis uimen acanthi\nNec turis lacrimae guttaque pinguis abest.\nHis addit teneras nardi pubentis aristas\nEt sociam myrrae uim, panacea, tuam.","t":"lest they violate the bright air with their blasts,\nor a cloud gathered by the south wind through the empty spaces of the sky\nremove the rays of the sun and harm the bird.\nThen it builds for itself either a nest or a tomb:\nfor it dies that it may live, yet it creates itself.\nFrom there it gathers juices and odors from the rich wood,\nsuch as the Assyrian gathers, such as the wealthy Arab,\nsuch as the Pygmy nations or India plucks,\nor the Sabaean land produces in its soft bosom.\nIt heaps up cinnamon and the breath of amomum, whose scent carries far,\nand balsams with mixed leaf;\nnor is the twig of mild cassia or fragrant acanthus missing,\nnor the tears and rich drops of frankincense.\nTo these it adds the tender ears of downy nard,\nand your strength, panacea, partner of myrrh.","f":"Pseudo-Lactantius, <i>Phoen.</i> 74 (CSEL 27:140lines 74–88; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-lactantius-phoenice/74)."},"ps-lactantius-phoenice/89":{"o":"Protinus instructo corpus mutabile nido\nVitalique toro membra uieta locat.\nOre dehinc sucos membris circumque supraque\nInicit exsequiis inmoritura suis.\nTunc inter uarios animam commendat odores,\nDepositi tanti nec timet illa fidem.\nInterea corpus genitali morte peremptum\nAestuat et flammam parturit ipse calor,\nAetherioque procul de lumine concipit ignem:\nFlagrat et ambustum soluitur in cineres.\nQuos uelut in massam cineres natura coactos\nConflat, et effectum seminis instar habet.\nHinc animal primum sine membris fertur oriri,\nSed fertur uermi lacteus esse color.","t":"At once it places its changeable body in the furnished nest\nand its withered limbs on that life-giving bed.\nThen with its beak it pours the juices on its limbs, around and above,\nabout to die amid its own funeral rites.\nThen amid the various odors it commits its soul,\nnor does it fear for the faithfulness of so great a deposit.\nMeanwhile the body, destroyed by a death that gives birth,\ngrows hot, and the heat itself brings forth flame,\nand it conceives fire from the ethereal light far off:\nit blazes and, burnt up, dissolves into ashes.\nThese ashes nature gathers as into a mass\nand fuses them, and the result is like a seed.\nFrom this, it is said, there first arises a creature without limbs,\nand this worm is said to be of a milky color.","f":"Pseudo-Lactantius, <i>Phoen.</i> 89 (CSEL 27:141lines 89–102–142; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-lactantius-phoenice/89)."}}