Sol 5.6

  1. May I drink blood if, for even an hour, my affection turns

    away from purity, or if I abide in humiliation.

  2. Though fortune may grant another panegyrist ample scope, still I am

    beset by a plight that, if I do not voice it, speaks before I do.

  3. Though my hopes of glory and eminence lie far off,

    for home and kin are where the idle take root.

  4. Though a promise should keep me overnight from my resolve,

    virtue would weep to see it fulfilled for men of ignorance.

  5. So let not my forbearance deceive the clan: for I

    pierce through more swiftly than arrows when affronts strike.

  6. May God preserve the minister’s very soul, for he is

    the companion of unbending pride and gentle manners—

  7. illustrious: when the lightning flashes of his glad countenance gleam,

    the children of drought exchange glad tidings of pouring rain.

  8. To one who asks, he is gentler than clear, sweet water,

    yet in defending a guest, harsher than a blade.

  9. He keeps the stains of procrastination far from his promises,

    yet grants every form of threatened punishment ample reprieve.

  10. His two robes are hung upon an awe-inspiring nobleman,

    of steely sinew, an ornament to battles and assemblies;

  11. refined in thought, his station is among the loftiest attainments

    when pedigrees are reckoned by the weight of honor.

  12. How could I turn aside and seek glory from anyone but him,

    when his sublimity—and the verse I make—are matchless?

Sol 5.6