Joseph Addison
1672-1719 AD
Trans. RMBullard
Latin (Modern Age)
JOSEPHUS ADDISON
SPHAERISTERIUM
Hic, ubi graminea in latum sese explicat aequor
Planities,
[Here, where grassy flatness reveals itself upon the wide sea,]
vacuoque ingens patet area campo,
[the large pit of sand spreads along its empty field,]
Cum solem nondum fumantia prata fatentur
Exortum,
[when the smoking meadowns not yet admit the rise of the sun]
et tumidae pendent in gramine guttae,
[and the swollen dew drops hang upon the grass,]
Improba falx noctis parva incrementa prioris
Desecat,
[the merciless blade of the previous night cuts down in small increments,]
exiguam radens a cespite messem:
[while it scrapes the scant harvest from its turf]:
Tum motu assiduo saxum versatile terram
Deprimit extantem,
[At that time, the tumbling rock pressed down the protruding earth in constant motion,]
et surgentes atterit herbas.
[and tears up the rising blades of glades.]
