Phoebi claro nondum orto iubare, 
Fert Aurora lumen terris tenue:
Spiculator pigris clamat 'surgite'.
    L'alba part umet mar atra sol
    Poy pasa bigil mira clar tenebras. 

En incautos hostium insidie 
torpentesque gliscunt intercipere
quos suadet preco clamans surgere. 
    L'alba part umet mar atra sol
    Poy pasa bigil mira clar tenebras. 

Ab Arcturo disgregatur aquilo 
poli suos condunt astra radios.
orienti tenditur septentrio. 
    L'alba part umet mar atra sol
    Poy pasa bigil mira clar tenebras.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Arthur T. Hatto, ed., Eos: An Enquiry Into the Theme of Lovers' Meetings and Partings at Dawn in Poetry, The Hague: Mouton & Co., 1965, page 280.

Note: the majority of this poem is in medieval Latin, but the refrain (last two lines of each stanza) is in the vernacular. Which vernacular is problematic; according to Arthur T. Hallo in Eos: An Enquiry Into the Theme of Lovers' Meetings and Partings at Dawn in Poetry, "This refrain, confidently claimed as Provençal by some and as confidently translated, remains enigmatic, both in dialect and in meaning."

Text Authorship:

• by Anonymous / Unidentified Author, no title [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

• by Hans Henkemans (1913 - 1995), "Alba", 1968, copyright © 1968 [ mixed chorus and orchestra ], from Tre aspetti d'amore, no. 1, Amsterdam: Donemus [sung text not yet checked]
• by Nicola LeFanu (b. 1947), "Phoebi claro nondum orto iubare", 2002 [ mezzo-soprano and instrumental ensemble ], from Mira Clas Tenebras, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Grant Hicks [Guest Editor] , Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2026-09-01
Line count: 15
Word count: 74

When Phoebus's bright radiance has yet to appear,
Aurora brings her faint light to the earth:
The watchman calls to the indolent: "Arise!" 
    Dawn draws the sun across the watery sea
    The night watch ends; look, darkness yields to light.

Behold, the enemy's ambush extends
to carry off the sluggish and unsuspecting,
and the watchman beseeches them to arise.
    Dawn draws the sun across the watery sea;
    The night watch ends; look, darkness yields to light.

From Arcturus the north wind is dispersed,
the stars sheathe their rays in the sky,
the Great Bear stretches out in the east.
    Dawn draws the sun across the watery sea;
    The night watch ends; look, darkness yields to light.