''Animula vagula blandula'' is the first line of a poem which appears in the ''

Historia Augusta The ''Historia Augusta'' (English: ''Augustan History'') is a late Roman collection of biographies, written in Latin, of the Roman emperors, their junior colleagues, designated heirs and usurpers from 117 to 284. Supposedly modeled on the sim ...

'' as the work of the dying emperor

Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...

. It has been extensively studied and there are numerous translations. The author of the ''Historia Augusta'' was disparaging but later authors such as

Isaac Casaubon Isaac Casaubon (; ; 18 February 1559 – 1 July 1614) was a classical scholar and philologist, first in France and then later in England. His son Méric Casaubon was also a classical scholar. Life Early life He was born in Geneva to two Fr ...

were more respectful. :: :: :: :: :: ::Poor little, wandering, charming soul ::Guest and companion of my body, ::What place will you go to now? ::Pale, stiff, naked little thing, ::Nor will you be making jokes as you always do. It was translated by D. Johnston as follows: ::Oh, loving Soul, my own so tenderly, ::My life’s companion and my body’s guest, ::To what new realms, poor flutterer, wilt thou fly? ::Cheerless, disrobed, and cold in thy lone quest, ::Hushed thy sweet fancies, mute thy wonted jest. Some translators take the adjectives in line 4 as neuter plural, agreeing with the word (places}, but the majority take them as feminine singular, describing the soul. Each line is an iambic dimeter (u – u – , u – u –), but the first two long elements in line 1 have been resolved into two short syllables, making tribrachs.

References

External links

A website providing context and potential translations to Animula vagula blandula

Forty-three translations of Hadrian's Animula Blandula
Hadrian Last words Latin poems {{poetry-stub