Ad Deum (Epigr. XL)
The Flow of Divine Inspiration
The poet acknowledges that all creative fruitfulness and spiritual expression originate from the grace of God and the movement of the Holy Spirit.
When you, O highest God, have once blessed a writer with your gentle dew, no fruitless labor wears him down; no biting pain of anxiety troubles him; his pen does not mourn, nor does his mind complain. Instead, the fruitful power of poetry and a sacred vein reign within his very limbs, just as the Nile, knowing no banks, overflows with a lovely flood. O sweetest Spirit, who plants holy sighs in our minds, flowing down from you like a dove—whatever I write, and whatever favor I find, if I find any at all, it is yours.
Read the original Latin
Quem tu, summe Deus, semel Scribentem placido rore beaveris, Illum non labor irritus Exercet miserum; non dolor unguium Morsus increpat anxios; Non maeret calamus; non queritur caput: Sed fecunda poeseos Vis, et vena sacris regnat in artubus; Qualis nescius aggerum Exundat fluvio Nilus amabili. O dulcissime spiritus Sanctos, qui gemitus mentibus inseris A te turture defluos, Quod scribo, et placeo, si placeo, tuum est.
The Latin Poems companion
Read all 57 of Herbert's Latin poems, one a day
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