Legenda: Aquila (Theobaldus)

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Aquila (Theobaldus)

Scroll down to find: Overview, Study Guide, Verse, Audio, Segmented Prose Text, and Grammar Comments

The story of The Eagle is a poem written by Theobaldus. It is written in elegiac couplets - with rhyme in the pentameter!

You can find this poem, Theobaldus: De Aquila, along with other poems by Theobaldus, at the Corpus Scriptorum Latinorum website.

In addition to this poem, you can read a prose account of the Aquila (drawing on the Physiologus tradition) here in the Legenda.

For more information about eagles, including other legends and proverbs about eagles, visit the Aquila in the Zoo. You can also visit the Eagle page at the bestiary.ca website for a discussion in English, bibliography and other useful references.

Use this Study Guide to organize your learning activities.

Here is the poem in verse form:

Esse ferunt aquilam super omne volatile primam,
Quae se sic renovat,    quando senecta gravat.
Fons ubi sit, quaerit, qui nunquam surgere desit.
It super hunc caelo    fitque propinqua Deo.
Tunc sibi sol ambas accendit fervidus alas
Et minuit grandes    alleviatque graves.
Tunc quoque caligo consumitur igne propinquo,
Quam confert oculis    vita vetusta suis.
Mox ruit et fontis liquidis se mergit in undis,
Utque cadit nido,     sic nova fit subito.
Est autem rostrum, quo carpitur esca, retortum :
Vix valet ex aliquo     sumere pauca cibo;
Sed feriens petram vel mordens, ut solet, escam
Atterit obliquum:     sic capit inde cibum.
Est homo peccatis, quae sunt ab origine matris,
Qualis adest aquila,    sed renovatur ita :
Nubes transcendit solisque incendia sentit
Mundum cum pompis    despiciendo suis.
Fit novus in Christo ter mersus gurgite vivo
(De se 'Sum vivus    fons' ait ille pius);
Os terit obliquum per verba precantia Christum
(Quod Christus petra sit,    firmat apostolus id);
Iam novus est panem super omnia mella suavem
(Panis id est Christus,    fit sine morte cibus).

The following version puts the words in a more prose-like order so that it will be easier for you to read:

Esse ferunt aquilam super omne volatile primam,	esse: infinitive in indirect statement (introduced by ferunt, subject is aquilam - predicate is primam)
quae se sic renovat, quando senecta gravat:	quae: relative pronoun, antecedent is aquilam
fons ubi sit quaerit qui nunquam surgere desit;	sit: subjunctive in indirect question, introduced by ubi qui: relative pronoun, antecedent is fons surgere: complementary infinitive introduced by desit
it super hunc caelo fitque propinqua Deo.
Tunc sibi sol ambas accendit fervidus alas et minuit grandes alleviatque graves.	sol...fervidus: split phrase ambas...alas: split phrase note the highly poetic word order: sol ambas accendit fervidus alas = A b - verb - a B grandes = alas grandes graves = alas graves
Tunc quoque caligo consumitur igne propinquo, quam confert oculis vita vetusta suis.	quam: relative pronoun, antecedent is caligo oculis...suis: split phrase
Mox ruit et fontis liquidis se mergit in undis, utque cadit nido, sic nova fit subito.	fontis liquidis in undis: split phrase
Est autem rostrum, quo carpitur esca, retortum: vix valet ex aliquo sumere pauca cibo;	autem: postpositive quo: relative pronoun, antecedent is rostrum est...retortum: split phrase ex aliquo...cibo: split phrase sumere: complementary infinitive with valet
sed feriens petram vel mordens, ut solet, escam atterit obliquum: sic capit inde cibum.	atterit = atterit rostrum
Est homo peccatis, quae sunt ab origine matris, qualis adest aquila, sed renovatur ita:	quae: relative pronoun, antecedent is peccatis est homo peccatis...qualis adest aquila: because of his sins, man is such as the eagle is...
nubes transcendit solisque incendia sentit, mundum cum pompis despiciendo suis.	mundum: object of despiciendo
Fit novus in Christo ter mersus gurgite vivo
(de se "Sum vivus fons" ait ille pius);
os terit obliquum per verba precantia Christum
(quod Christus petra sit, firmat apostolus id);	id: serves as the antecedent of quod ("the apostle affirms [the fact] that...") sit: subjunctive in attributed statement
iam novus, est panem super omnia mella suavem	est: this is from the verb edo, esse - to eat (with a long "e" - êst)
(panis, id est Christus, fit sine morte cibus).