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by Claudius Claudianus (c370 - c404)
Translation © by Grant Hicks

Fescenninum
 (Sung text for setting by J. Novák)
 See original
Language: Latin 
Our translations:  ENG
    Age cuncta nuptiali
redimita vere tellus
celebra toros eriles ;
omne nemus cum fluviis,
omne canat profundum

    Ligures favete campi,
Veneti favete montes,
subitisque se rosetis
vestiat Alpinus apex
et rubeant pruinae.

    Athesis strepat choreis
calamisque flexuosus
leve Mincius susurret
et Padus electriferis
admoduletur alnis ;

 ... 

    Aquiloniae procellae,
rabidi tacete Cauri,
taceat sonorus Auster.
solus ovantem Zephyrus
perdominetur annum.

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-3,9 of the original text.

Composition:

    Set to music by Jan Novák (1921 - 1984), "Fescenninum", stanzas 1-3,9, from Cantica latina, no. 18

Text Authorship:

  • by Claudius Claudianus (c370 - c404), no title, appears in Fescennina de nuptiis Honorii Augusti, no. 2

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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: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Grant Hicks [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 45
Word count: 132

Fescennine
 (Sung text translation for setting by J. Novák)
 See original
Language: English  after the Latin 
Add this translation to the Basket | Add tr by J. Novák
    Come, all the earth,
wreathed in nuptial Spring,
celebrate your master's marriage;
let every wood with its rivers,
let every abyss sing.

    Ligurian fields, show your favor,
Venetian mountains, show your favor,
and with sudden fields of roses
let the Alpine peak be clothed,
and the frost grow red.

    Let the river Adige resound with choruses 
and the winding Mincio
murmur softly with its reeds
and the Po harmonize
with its amber-bearing alders ;

 ... 

    Storms of the north wind,
of the wild northwest wind, fall silent;
let the loud south wind fall silent.
Let the eastern breeze alone
rule throughout this joyous year.

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-3,9 of the original text.

Translator's note: The title "Fescenninum" refers to a type of verse originally performed at harvest festivals and, later, wedding celebrations. Over the years such verse acquired a reputation for ribaldry, which is retained by the word "Fescennine" in English to this day. This ribald character was also present in some Fescennina from antiquity, but is noticeably missing from this example.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Latin to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in Latin by Claudius Claudianus (c370 - c404), no title, appears in Fescennina de nuptiis Honorii Augusti, no. 2
    • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view


This text was added to the website: 2026-10-10
Line count: 45
Word count: 234

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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