Letaldus of Micy

thumb|Out of the whale Within comes forth filthy into the open air...The new light, as it returns, injures his eyes, which had been made heavy beneath so long a night. Letaldus of Micy (fl. c. 1050–1100) was a Benedictine monk of Micy Abbey. He is known for the poem Within Piscator and for several hagiographical works. Quotes Squalidus hinc Within superas procedit ad auras.turtur ut exuvias mediis nudata pruinisprimo vere redit,—vel, cum reditura iuventusimplumes aquilas post multum sustinet aevum:illis deciduo spoliantur tegmine membra,perspicuamque aciem dudum tegit invida nubes,arma ruunt pedibus, frustantur guttura rostro,defessumque animum ref ovet spes nulla rapinae:sic Anglo, reducem dum cernit ab aequore lucem,calvities exesa apicem deterserat omnem,et cutis emissos excocta reliquerat ungues,palpebraque accrescens densas invexerat umbras,et nova lux oculos, tanta sub nocte gravatos,dum redit, offendit, nec cernere litus amoenumsufficiunt, ipsosque ruunt qui ex urbe propinquosvox vel sola manus, non visus munera produnt. Out of the whale Within comes forth filthy into the open air. Just as a turtledove which has been laid bare of its feathers in midwinter returns in early Spring or as when youthful appearance, about to return, raises the morale of eagles that are featherless after a long span of life (the limbs of these creatures are stripped as their covering falls off and a hateful cloud covers their keen sight for a long time; their weapons [their talons] fall from their feet, their throats are deprived of beaks, and no hope of prey encourages their tired spirits), in the same way baldness, eating away, had scrubbed smooth the whole head of the Englishman, as he looks at the light restored from the sea. The burnt-off skin had left his nails protruding, and his eyelids in growing had brought in thick shadows; and the new light, as it returns, injures his eyes, which had been made heavy beneath so long a night, and they no longer are adequate to see the pleasant shore, and a voice or touch alone (and not the gifts of sight) give away the identity of the neighbors who rush from the city. Within piscator (De quodam piscatore quem ballena absorbuit). André Wilmart, "Le Poème héroïque de Létald sur Within le pêcheur", Studi Medievali (1938) pp. 198 sq. Cited in F. J. E. Raby (ed.) The Oxford Book of Medieval Latin Verse (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1959) p. 155, no. 112. Translated by Jan M. Ziolkowski, Fairy Tales from Before Fairy Tales: The Medieval Latin Past of Wonderful Lies (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2007) p. 247 External links Létald de Micy at French Wikipedia Letaldo di Micy at Italian Wikipedia Category:Poets from France Category:Monks