Poem on the Day of (My) Death
Lokrantz calls the meter trochaic tetrameter
1.
Gravi me terrore pulsas, vitae dies ultima;
Maeret cor, solvuntur renes, laesa tremunt viscera,
Tui speciem dum sibi mens depingit anxia.
O last day of my life, you strike me with grave terror,
My heart sorrows, my kidneys are released, my wounded internal organs tremble,
While my disturbed mind pictures to itself your appearance.
2.
Quis enim pavendum illud explicet spectaculum,
Cum dimenso vitae cursu carnis aegrae nexibus
Anima luctatur solvi propinquans ad exitum?
Who indeed would describe that sight which must be feared,
When the soul is struggling to be released from the measured course of the sick flesh of life’s bonds approaching its exit?
3.
Perit sensus, lingua riget, revolvuntur oculi,
Pectus palpitat, anhelat raucum guttur hominis,
Stupent membra, pallent ora, decor abit corporis.
Feeling passes away, the tongue is numb, the eyes roll,
The chest trembles, the husky throat of man pants,
The limbs are stunned, the face pales, the decent appearance of the body departs.
4.
Ecce diversorum partes confluunt spiritum,
Hinc angelicae virtutes, illinc turba daemonum.
Illi propius accedunt, quos invitat meritum.
Behold the opposite factions converging on the soul,
Here to the virtues of an angel, to there the crowd of demons.
They approach more closely, whom merit invites.
5.
Praesto sunt et cogitatus, verba, cursus, opera,
Et prae oculis nolentis glomerantur omnia;
Illuc tendat, huc se vertat, coram videt posita.
At hand also are thought, words, courses, works,
And all these things are clustering before the eyes of the unwilling sufferer;
There it holds out, here it turns around, he sees all things placed in person.
6.
Torquet ipsa reum suum mordax conscientia,
Plorat apta corrigendi defluxisse tempora.
Plena luctu caret fructu sera paenitentia.
The biting conscience itself twists its own thing,
It laments having flown away the time suitable for correcting.
Late repentance full of mourning lacks the fruit.
7.
Falsa tunc dulcendo carnis in amarum vertitur,
Quando brevem voluptatem perpes poena sequitur.
Iam quod magnum credebatur, nil fuisse cernitur.
Then the false sweetness of the flesh is turned into bitterness,
When everlasting punishment follows brief pleasure.
Now was believed to be great, is seen to be nothing.
8.
At quae mens in summae lucis gloriam sustollitur, The mind which
Aspernatur lutum carnis, quo mersa provolvitur,
Et ut carcerali nexu laetabunda solvitur.
But what mind is raised up to the glory of the supreme light,
It rejects the dirt of the flesh, sunk in which it rolls along,
And is joyfully released just as from a prison bond.
9.
Sed egressa durum iter experitur anima,
quam incursant furiosa dirae pestis agmina
et diversa suis locis instruunt certamina.
But having come out of the body the soul experiences a hard journey,
The soul which the enraged soldiers of dreadful disease attack
And they prepare different struggles for his different places.
10.
Nam hic incentores gulae, illic avaritiae,
Alibi fautores irae, alibi superbiae;
Vitii cuiusque globus suas parat acies.
For here are those who excite the throat, there the ones who incite greed,
Elsewhere servile promoters of anger, elsewhere promoters of arrogance;
The band of each vice prepares its troops.
11.
Iam si cedat una turma, mox insurgit altera.
Omnis ars temptatur belli, omnis pugnae machina,
Ne ad hostium pudorem sic evadat anima.
Now if a squadron withdraws, soon another rises up.
Every art of war is tried, every machine of fighting is tried,
In order that the soul does not escape in this way to the shame of the enemy.
12.
O quam torva bellatorum monstra sunt feralium!
Taetri, truces, truculenti flammas efflant naribus,
Dracontea tument colla, virus stilant faucibus.
O how savage are the monsters of these beastly warriors!
Disgraceful, savage, fierce they breathe flames from their nostrils,
Their snakelike necks swell, they drip venom from their throats.
13.
Serpentinis armant spiris manus doctas proeliis;
His oppugnant adventates telis velut ferreis, adventantes?
His quos attrahunt, aeternis mancipant incendiis.
They arm their troops experienced in battle with snakelike coils;
They attack those souls coming as if with spears of iron,
These whom they drag off, they handcuff with eternal fire.
14.
Quaeso, Christe, rex invicte, tu succurre misero
Sub extremae sortis hora, cum iussus obiero.
Nullum in me ius tyranno praebeatur impio.
I beg, Christ, unconquerable king, you to come to the aid of wretched me
Under this last hour of fate, when I will go to meet death as has been ordered.
No jurisdiction over me should be given to the impious tyrant.
15.
Cadat princeps tenebrarum, cedat pars Tartarea.
Pastor, ovem iam redemptam tunc reduc ad patriam,
Ubi te vivendi causa perfruar in saecula.
Amen.
May the prince of darkness fall, let the part of hell withdraw.
Shepherd, now bring back your redeemed sheep then to the father,
Where I hope I could enjoy you living in eternity.
Amen.
