The Last Words of Emperor Hadrian | Charming little wandering spirit

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by Publius Aelius Hadrianus (76 - 138), as Hadrian, Emperor of Rome

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Animula vagula blandula

Language: Latin

Our translations: ENG

Animula vagula blandula 
hospes comesque corporis 
quae nunc abibis in loca 
pallidula frigida nudula 
nec ut soles dabis iocos.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Diederik Burgersdijk, Publius Aelius Hadrianus: Animula vagula blandula, Carptim Nijmegen 2019, p.9

Note for line 4, word 2: many anthologies of Latin poetry show "rigida" instead of "frigida" here.

Text Authorship:

by Publius Aelius Hadrianus (76 - 138), as Hadrian, Emperor of Rome, 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 Clemens von Franckenstein (1875 - 1942), "Die letzten Worte Kaiser Hadrians" [ voice and piano ], Manuscript 1898 [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in English, a translation by Royston Lambert (1932 - 1982) , copyright © ; composed by Ian Venables.
- Go to the text.

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

DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Diederik Burgersdijk) , no title, written 2004, copyright ©
ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "The Last Words of Emperor Hadrian", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2023-02-23
Line count: 5
Word count: 19

The Last Words of Emperor Hadrian

Language: English after the Latin

Charming little wandering spirit,
guest and companion of the body,
where will you now be going,
pale, cold, and naked,
and without your accustomed jesting?

Text Authorship:

Translation from Latin to English copyright © 2025 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 Publius Aelius Hadrianus (76 - 138), as Hadrian, Emperor of Rome, no title
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-07-01
Line count: 5
Word count: 25