Nunc autem derident me juniores tempore, quorum non dignabar patres ponere cum canibus gregis mei:

And now? Now I am a laughing-stock, even to younger men; a flock of such base breed as theirs sheep-dog of mine never tended!

But now the younger in time scorn me, whose fathers I would not have set with the dogs of my flock:

quorum virtus manuum mihi erat pro nihilo, et vita ipsa putabantur indigni:

So profitless their puny strength, I would have let them die before ever they came to maturity.

The strength of whose hands was to me as nothing, and they were thought unworthy of life itself.

egestate et fame steriles, qui rodebant in solitudine, squallentes calamitate et miseria.

Starveling creatures, they should browse in the waste, unkempt, haggard and woe-begone,

Barren with want and hunger, who gnawed in the wilderness, disfigured with calamity and misery.

Et mandebant herbas, et arborum cortices, et radix juniperorum erat cibus eorum:

cropping mallow and tree-bark and juniper-root for their diet,

And they ate grass, and barks of trees, and the root of junipers was their food.

qui de convallibus ista rapientes, cum singula reperissent, ad ea cum clamore currebant.

and making great hue and cry after such dainties, as they pluck them from the hill-slopes!

Who snatched up these things out of the valleys, and when they had found any of them, they ran to them with a cry.

In desertis habitabant torrentium, et in cavernis terræ, vel super glaream:

Barren ravine and cave and rock their dwelling-place,

They dwelt in the desert places of torrents, and in caves of earth, or upon the gravel.

qui inter hujuscemodi lætabantur, et esse sub sentibus delicias computabant:

they were glad of so much shelter; a bramble thicket should be their welcome refuge.

They pleased themselves among these kind of things, and counted it delightful to be under the briers.

filii stultorum et ignobilium, et in terra penitus non parentes.

A senseless and a nameless breed, earth is well rid of them.

The children of foolish and base men, and not appearing at all upon the earth.

Nunc in eorum canticum versus sum, et factus sum eis in proverbium.

O that I should be a song and a by-word on such lips as these!

Now I am turned into their song, and am become their byword.

Abominantur me, et longe fugiunt a me, et faciem meam conspuere non verentur.

That they loathe and shun me, and make bold to spit in my face, being what they are!

They abhor me, and flee far from me, and are not afraid to spit in my face.

Pharetram enim suam aperuit, et afflixit me, et frenum posuit in os meum.

Now God has made me a mark for his archery, now he has put a bit in my mouth;

For he hath opened his quiver, and hath afflicted me, and hath put a bridle into my mouth.

Ad dexteram orientis calamitates meæ illico surrexerunt: pedes meos subverterunt, et oppresserunt quasi fluctibus semitis suis.

when my fair spring was overcast by calamity, every passer-by might throw me down; like a flood they swept over me,

At the right hand of my rising, my calamities forthwith arose: they have overthrown my feet, and have overwhelmed me with their paths as with waves.

Dissipaverunt itinera mea; insidiati sunt mihi, et prævaluerunt: et non fuit qui ferret auxilium.

trampled down my path, took me unawares and overcame me, when there was none to bring rescue.

They have destroyed my ways, they have lain in wait against me, and they have prevailed, and there was none to help.

Quasi rupto muro, et aperta janua, irruerunt super me, et ad meas miserias devoluti sunt.

One breach made, one gate forced, they might fall upon me all at once, and add their weight to my misery.

They have rushed in upon me, as when a wall is broken, and a gate opened, and have rolled themselves down to my miseries.

Redactus sum in nihilum: abstulisti quasi ventus desiderium meum, et velut nubes pertransiit salus mea.

All that I was, is gone, the ambition, the happiness that was mine swept away like clouds before the storm;

I am brought to nothing: as a wind thou hast taken away my desire: and my prosperity hath passed away like a cloud.

Nunc autem in memetipso marcescit anima mea, et possident me dies afflictionis.

my heart is dead within me, a prey to long despairs.

And now my soul fadeth within myself, and the days of affliction possess me.

Nocte os meum perforatur doloribus, et qui me comedunt, non dormiunt.

By night, anguish racks my frame; sleepless the cares that consume me,

In the night my bone is pierced with sorrows: and they that feed upon me, do not sleep.

In multitudine eorum consumitur vestimentum meum, et quasi capitio tunicæ succinxerunt me.

their poison seems to eat away the very garments I wear, clings fast about me like the collar of my coat.

With the multitude of them my garment is consumed, and they have girded me about, as with the collar of my coat.

Comparatus sum luto, et assimilatus sum favillæ et cineri.

No better I than mud in the streets, little thought of as dust or ashes;

I am compared to dirt, and am likened to embers and ashes.

Clamo ad te, et non exaudis me: sto, et non respicis me.

unheard I cry to thee, unregarded I stand in thy presence;

I cry to thee, and thou hearest me not: I stand up, and thou dost not regard me.

Mutatus es mihi in crudelem, et in duritia manus tuæ adversaris mihi.

so hardened is thy heart, so pitilessly thy blows fall upon me.

Thou art changed to be cruel toward me, and in the hardness of thy hand thou art against me.

Elevasti me, et quasi super ventum ponens; elisisti me valide.

Didst thou exalt me, lift me so high in air, only to hurl me down in ruin?

Thou hast lifted me up, and set me as it were upon the wind, and thou hast mightily dashed me.

Scio quia morti trades me, ubi constituta est domus omni viventi.

I know well enough that thou wilt bring me to the grave at last; it is the home thou hast appointed for all living men;

I know that thou wilt deliver me to death, where a house is appointed for every one that liveth.

Verumtamen non ad consumptionem eorum emittis manum tuam: et si corruerint, ipse salvabis.

but surely thou dost not exert thy power only to destroy, surely thou hast mercy on the fallen?

But yet thou stretchest not forth thy hand to their consumption: and if they shall fall down thou wilt save.

Flebam quondam super eo qui afflictus erat, et compatiebatur anima mea pauperi.

I myself know what it is to pity the afflicted, to shed tears over human need!

I wept heretofore for him that was afflicted, and my soul had compassion on the poor.

Expectabam bona, et venerunt mihi mala: præstolabar lucem, et eruperunt tenebræ.

But no, hope I for better things, I hope in vain; ever deeper the darkness shews to eyes straining for the light.

I expected good things, and evils are come upon me: I waited for light, and darkness broke out.

Interiora mea efferbuerunt absque ulla requie: prævenerunt me dies afflictionis.

Still my heart is in turmoil, greeted still by fresh despairs;

My inner parts have boiled without any rest, the days of affliction have prevented me.

Mœrens incedebam sine furore; consurgens, in turba clamabam.

I go mourning, my face blacker than ever the sun’s heat made it, rise up in public, and claim audience for my wrongs;

I went mourning without indignation; I rose up, and cried in the crowd.

Frater fui draconum, et socius struthionum.

crying so dismally as if I had jackals for my brothers, ostriches for my company.

I was the brother of dragons, and companion of ostriches.

Cutis mea denigrata est super me, et ossa mea aruerunt præ caumate.

And all the while, fever to discolour this flesh, to shrivel this frame!

My skin is become black upon me, and my bones are dried up with heat.

Versa est in luctum cithara mea, et organum meum in vocem flentium.

What wonder if all, with me, is mourning and lament, if the music of harp and flute is heard no more?

My harp is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of those that weep.