Parvam piamque dum lubenter semitam
The Cup of the Master
The speaker finds solace in accepting the bitter trials of life by remembering that they are the same cup once tasted by Christ.
While I willingly prefer a small and pious path to a grand and guilty one, a malicious star has plucked this modesty and mixed wine with gall. Because of this, I get all stirred up and eager to threaten the very heavens, until someone gently catches my cloak and whispers in my ear, 'This was once the drink of your Lord.' I taste it, and I approve the cask.
Read the original Latin
Parvam piamque dum lubenter semitam Grandi reaeque praefero, Carpsit malignum sidus hanc modestiam Vinumque felle miscuit. Hinc fremere totus et minari gestio Ipsis severus orbibus, Tandem prehensa comiter lacernula Susurrat aure quispiam, Haec fuerat olim potio Domini tui. Gusto proboque dolium.
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