Sol 5.6

  1. Against my will, I began an elegy for him,

    though I had not yet begun to offer congratulations.

  2. My little son—alas!—was dearly beloved;

    his star’s course refused to turn back.

  3. Nor, when this came to pass, could my heart forget

    a crescent before its rising was complete.

  4. O my son, my heart’s sorrow was born,

    then swept through your household, roots and branches alike.

  5. Calamity struck the eyes of those you left behind,

    and everyone was overcome with anguish.

  6. Indeed, by the tears coursing across a cheek’s broad plane—

    tears that wept—and by the fire-kindlers that set ribs aflame:

  7. Truly, a little candle—the light of my home—was extinguished

    by death; how many candles like it has death extinguished!

Sol 5.6