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To the Lady Radegund, With Violets by Venantius Fortunatus
If 'twere the time of lilies,
Or of the crimson rose,
I'd pluck them in the fields for you
Or my poor garden close:
Small gift for you so rare.
But I can find no lilies,
Green herbs are all I bring.
Yet love makes vetches roses,
And in their shadowing
Hide violets as fair.
For royal is their purple,
And fragrant is their breath,
And to one sweet and royal,
Their fragrance witnesseth
Beauty abiding there.
† Venantius Fortunatus {530 AD • 610 AD}
† Trans. By Helel Waddell {1889 • 1965}
Or of the crimson rose,
I'd pluck them in the fields for you
Or my poor garden close:
Small gift for you so rare.
But I can find no lilies,
Green herbs are all I bring.
Yet love makes vetches roses,
And in their shadowing
Hide violets as fair.
For royal is their purple,
And fragrant is their breath,
And to one sweet and royal,
Their fragrance witnesseth
Beauty abiding there.
† Venantius Fortunatus {530 AD • 610 AD}
† Trans. By Helel Waddell {1889 • 1965}
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