Epitaphium (Hic sita foeminei laus)
A Life of Balanced Grace
The subject is celebrated for her virtuous roles and her unique ability to bridge the gap between earthly humility and heavenly nobility.
Here lies the praise and victory of the female sex: a modest virgin, a faithful wife, a strict mother. She was an equal match and passion for both the high-born and the lowly, drawing the former by her nobility and the latter by her piety. In this way, she bridged the gap between high and low, enjoying everything the earth holds and everything the stars possess.
Read the original Latin
Hic sita foeminei laus et victoria sexus: Virgo pudens, uxor fida, severa parens: Magnatumque inopumque aequum certamen et ardor: Nobilitate illos, hos pietate rapit. Sic excelsa humilisque simul loca dissita junxit, Quicquid habet tellus, quicquid et astra fruens.
The Latin Poems companion
Read all 57 of Herbert's Latin poems, one a day
Chosen Portion delivers a Herbert poem (or another royal-court devotional text) as your free daily reading on iOS
Herbert's short poems were written for meditative re-reading; Chosen Portion serves one per day, turning the two collections into a two-month devotional cycle
- All 57 Latin poems in modern English, roughly two months of daily readings
- One short poem a day, readable in under 5 minutes
- Includes the full Sub Rosa archive of 78 historic devotional works