DECIMUS MAGNUS AUSONIUS
IV
Attius Patera [pater], Rhetorician
You, sir, had reached your prime, when I was a baby;
as a very young man, I remember
you were an ancient, venerable, surviving
to great age from another
and better age. You were my teachers' teacher,
of whom they all still boasted.
They said you had come of a long line of Druids,
priests of their god Belenus.
Apollo was thus your patron, guide, and protector.
From him you had your name,
"Patera," the sobriquet of Phoebus' priests.
Your father Phoebicius, your brother
of the same name, and your son Delphidius all
bore that deity's blazon
from whom you had your gifts, eloquence, style,
concision, mellifluousness
your friends and colleagues envied. Your wit was gentle,
your memory, always impressive,
and your learning, vast. Abstemious, modest, precise,
you were a rare bird-
an old eagle, still strong, still sharp of eye,
and still gracefully soaring.
Translated from the Latin
by
David R. Siavitt
