Ovid's Metamorphoses

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NUNTIA IUNONIS VARIOS INDUTA COLORES

CONCIPIT IRIS AQUAS ALIMENTAQUE NUBIBUS ADFERT;

STERNUNTUR SEGETES ET DEPLORATA COLONIS

VOTA IACENT, LONGIQUE PERIT LABOR INRITUS ANNI.

NEC CAELO CONTENTA SUO EST IOVIS IRA, SED ILLUM

CAERULEUS FRATER IUVAT AUXILIARIBUS UNDIS.

CONVOCAT HIC AMNES; QUI POSTQUAM TECTA TYRANNI

INTRAVERE SUI, “NON EST HORTAMINE LONGO

NUNC” AIT “UTENDUM. VIRES EFFUNDITE VESTRAS

(SIC OPUS EST), APERITE DOMOS AC MOLE REMOTA

FLUMINIBUS VESTRIS TOTAS IMMITTITE HABENAS.”

 

 

IRIS, MESSENGER OF JUNO, CLOAKED IN HER VARIOUS COLOURS,

TOOK IN WATER AND BROUGHT IT UP AS NOURISHMENT FOR THE CLOUDS;

THE CORNFIELDS ARE SCATTERED, THE COMPLAINING

PRAYERS OF FARMERS GO UNHEEDED AND THE USELESS LABOUR OF THE YEAR PERISHES.

NOR IS JOVE’S ANGER CONTENT WITH HIS OWN SKY, BUT HIS

SKY-BLUE BROTHER HELPS OUT WITH HIS WAVES.

HERE HE CALLS RIVERS, WHO AFTERWARD ENTER THE HOUSE OF THEIR SOVEREIGN,

“THERE IS NO NEED FOR A LONG PEP-SPEECH”,

HE SAID, “POUR OUT YOUR FORCES

(THIS IS YOUR MISSION), OPEN UP YOUR GATES AND, WHEN THEIR MASS IS PULLED BACK,

LOOSEN THE REIGNS OF YOUR CURRENTS ENTIRELY.”

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See?  You waited and your patience paid off: you get another council of gods!  Yay!

Not really, though… Ovid teases us that we will have another long set of speeches, before Neptune (mercifully) decides to play the general and keep his orders short and to-the-point.  The gods are in fact conquering warlords, and the image of the farmer proves that they don’t mind hitting civilian targets.  Make no mistake: we are witnessing a brutal military campaign…

For those of you who weren’t in the loop: I posted the top half of this page earlier in the week.  I wanted to get the full page up as soon as possible, so I could try to get a normal update schedule back.  We’ll see how I do this weekend.  If you want to read what I said about the top half, check it out here.