Translations Angelus Silesius Poem by Michael Burch

Angelus Silesius Epigrams
translated by Michael R. Burch

Unholy Trinity

Man has three enemies:
himself, the world, and the devil.
Of these the first is, by far,
the most irresistible evil.

True Wealth

There is more to being rich
than merely having;
the wealthiest man can lose
everything not worth saving.

The Rose

The rose merely blossoms
and never asks why:
heedless of her beauty,
careless of every eye.

The Rose

The rose lack 'reasons'
and merely sways with the seasons;
she has no ego
but whoever put on such a show?

Eternity

Eternity is time,
time eternity,
except when we
are determined to 'see.'

Visions

Our souls possess two eyes:
one examines time,
the other visions
eternal and sublime.

Godless

God is absolute Nothingness
beyond our sense of time and place;
the more we try to grasp Him,
The more He flees from our embrace.

The Source

Water is pure and clean
when taken at the well-head:
but drink too far from the Source
and you may well end up dead.

Peace

Unceasingly you seek
life's ceaseless wavelike motion;
I seek perpetual peace, all storms calmed.
Whose is the wiser notion?

Sense

Friend, cease!
Abandon all pretense!
You must yourself become
the Writing and the Sense.

Worm Food

No worm is buried
so deep within the soil
that God denies it food
as reward for its toil.

Mature Love

New love, like a sparkling wine, soon fizzes.
Mature love, calm and serene, abides.

Hellish Predicament

God cannot condemn those with whom he would dwell,
or He would have to join them in hell!

Clods

A ruby
is not lovelier
than a dirt clod,
nor an angel
more glorious
than a frog.



GILDAS TRANSLATIONS

These are my modern English translations of Latin poems by the English monk Gildas. Gildas, also known as Gildas Sapiens ("Gildas the Wise") , was a 6th-century British monk who is one of the first native writers of the British Isles we know by name. Gildas is remembered for his scathing religious polemic De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae ("On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain" or simply "On the Ruin of Britain") . The work has been dated to circa 480-550 AD.

"Alas! The nature of my complaint is the widespread destruction of all that was good, followed by the wild proliferation of evil throughout the land. Normally, I would grieve with my motherland in her travail and rejoice in her revival. But for now I restrict myself to relating the sins of an indolent and slothful race, rather than the feats of heroes. For ten years I kept my silence, I confess, with much mental anguish, guilt and remorse, while I debated these things within myself..." — Gildas, The Ruin of Britain, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Gildas is also remembered for his "Lorica" ("Breastplate") :

"The Lorica of Loding" from the Book of Cerne
by Gildas
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Trinity in Unity, shield and preserve me!
Unity in Trinity, have mercy on me!

Preserve me, I pray, from all dangers:
dangers which threaten to overwhelm me
like surging sea waves;
neither let mortality
nor worldly vanity
sweep me away from the safe harbor of Your embrace!

Furthermore, I respectfully request:
send the exalted, mighty hosts of heaven!
Let them not abandon me
to be destroyed by my enemies,
but let them defend me always
with their mighty shields and bucklers.

Allow Your heavenly host
to advance before me:
Cherubim and Seraphim by the thousands,
led by the Archangels Michael and Gabriel!

Send, I implore, these living thrones,
these principalities, powers and Angels,
so that I may remain strong,
defended against the deluge of enemies
in life's endless battles!

May Christ, whose righteous Visage frightens away foul throngs,
remain with me in a powerful covenant!

May God the Unconquerable Guardian
defend me on every side with His power!

Free my manacled limbs,
cover them with Your shielding grace,
leaving heaven-hurled demons helpless to hurt me,
to pierce me with their devious darts!

Lord Jesus Christ, be my sure armor, I pray!

Cover me, O God, with Your impenetrable breastplate!

Cover me so that, from head to toe,
no member is exposed, within or without;
so that life is not exorcized from my body
by plague, by fever, by weakness, or by suffering.

Until, with the gift of old age granted by God,
I depart this flesh, free from the stain of sin,
free to fly to those heavenly heights,
where, by the grace of God, I am borne in joy
into the cool retreats of His heavenly kingdom!

Amen

#GILDAS #LATIN #LORICA #RUIN #MRBGILDAS #MRBLATIN #MRBLORICA #MRBRUIN