At last, Job himself broke into utterance, and fell to cursing the day on which he was born.

Post hæc aperuit Job os suum, et maledixit diei suo,

After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day,

And this was his plaint:

et locutus est:

And he said:

Blotted out for ever be the day of my birth; that night, too, which gave word that a human life had been conceived in the womb!

Pereat dies in qua natus sum, et nox in qua dictum est: Conceptus est homo.

Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said: A man child is conceived.

Plunged be that day in darkness; may God on high forget it, and grant it never shine of sun;

Dies ille vertatur in tenebras: non requirat eum Deus desuper, et non illustretur lumine.

Let that day be turned into darkness, let not God regard it from above, and let not the light shine upon it.

shades, like the shades of death, claim it for their own; deep gloom lie heavy on it, and wrap it all in desolation.

Obscurent eum tenebræ et umbra mortis; occupet eum caligo, et involvatur amaritudine.

Let darkness, and the shadow of death cover it, let a mist overspread it, and let it be wrapped up in bitterness.

Shrouded be that night in a black storm, let it not be reckoned among the days of the year, nor marked in the moon’s calendar;

Noctem illam tenebrosus turbo possideat; non computetur in diebus anni, nec numeretur in mensibus.

Let a darksome whirlwind seize upon that night, let it not be counted in the days of the year, nor numbered in the months.

a night doomed to exile, a night that never wakes the sound of praise.

Sit nox illa solitaria, nec laude digna.

Let that night be solitary, and not worthy of praise.

Wizards that can overcast the sun, and rouse old Chaos from his lair, on that night lay your ban;

Maledicant ei qui maledicunt diei, qui parati sunt suscitare Leviathan.

Let them curse it who curse the day, who are ready to raise up a leviathan:

blacken its starlight, let it wait for the morning light, and see it never, nor break of rising dawn;

Obtenebrentur stellæ caligine ejus; expectet lucem, et non videat, nec ortum surgentis auroræ.

Let the stars be darkened with the mist thereof: let it expect light and not see it, nor the rising of the dawning of the day:

the night that should have closed the doors of the womb against me, shut these eyes forever to sights of woe!

Quia non conclusit ostia ventris qui portavit me, nec abstulit mala ab oculis meis.

Because it shut not up the doors of the womb that bore me, nor took away evils from my eyes.

Had but the womb been the tomb of me, had I died at birth,

Quare non in vulva mortuus sum? egressus ex utero non statim perii?

Why did I not die in the womb, why did I not perish when I came out of the belly?

had no lap ever cherished me, no breast suckled me,

Quare exceptus genibus? cur lactatus uberibus?

Why received upon the knees? why suckled at the breasts?

all would be rest now, all would be silence. Deeply I would take my repose,

Nunc enim dormiens silerem, et somno meo requiescerem

For now I should have been asleep and still, and should have rest in my sleep.

with the old kings and senators, that once restored cities for their whim,

cum regibus et consulibus terræ, qui ædificant sibi solitudines;

With kings and consuls of the earth, who build themselves solitudes:

the chieftains that had such wealth of gold, houses full of silver;

aut cum principibus qui possident aurum, et replent domos suas argento;

Or with princes, that possess gold, and fill their houses with silver:

with babe still-born and babe unborn, hidden away in the sunless grave.

aut sicut abortivum absconditum non subsisterem, vel qui concepti non viderunt lucem.

Or as a hidden untimely birth I should not be, or as they that being conceived have not seen the light.

There the unquietness of the wicked is stilled, and the weary are at rest;

Ibi impii cessaverunt a tumultu, et ibi requieverunt fessi robore.

There the wicked cease from tumult, and there the wearied in strength are at rest.

untroubled the thrall sleeps, his tyrant’s bidding cannot reach him now;

Et quondam vincti pariter sine molestia, non audierunt vocem exactoris.

And they sometime bound together without disquiet, have not heard the voice of the oppressor.

master and slave are there, and the slave masterless.

Parvus et magnus ibi sunt, et servus liber a domino suo.

The small and great are there, and the servant is free from his master.

Why should they see the light, that groan to see it; why should they live, that must live in bitterness of soul?

Quare misero data est lux, et vita his qui in amaritudine animæ sunt:

Why is light given to him that is in misery, and life to them that are in bitterness of soul?

Why should they be like treasure-seekers, longing for the death that still cheats them,

qui expectant mortem, et non venit, quasi effodientes thesaurum;

That look for death, and it cometh not, as they that dig for a treasure:

a grave the prize they covet?

gaudentque vehementer cum invenerint sepulchrum?

And they rejoice exceedingly when they have found the grave.

Such men as I, that must tread blindfold in a maze of God’s making!

viro cujus abscondita est via et circumdedit eum Deus tenebris?

To a man whose way is hidden, and God hath surrounded him with darkness?

Ever as I sit down to meat the sighs come, grief floods over me unrestrained.

Antequam comedam, suspiro; et tamquam inundantes aquæ, sic rugitus meus:

Before I eat I sigh: and as overflowing waters, so is my roaring:

Must I have nothing left to daunt me? Must each calamity be felt as soon as feared?

quia timor quem timebam evenit mihi, et quod verebar accidit.

For the fear which I feared, hath come upon me: and that which I was afraid of, hath befallen me.

And still I kept my own counsel, still patient and silent I, till my angry mood overcame me at last.

Nonne dissimulavi? nonne silui? nonne quievi? et venit super me indignatio.

Have I not dissembled? have I not kept silence? have I not been quiet? and indignation is come upon me.