A letter from Fortunatus (after 567)

Translated letter:

[Again to lady Radegund] Why did my light remove itself from me with wandering eyes, not allow itself to open to my sight? I look at everything at at once: air, rivers, earth; since I do not see you, they are all too little for me. Though the sky may be serene with clouds fleeing, the day is without sun when you are hidden from me. But I pray that the hasty wheel may lead the course of hours and days to rush themselves with brevity. May this be resolved for us and the holy sisters, that you lift up with your face those you hold in love.

Original letter:

[Item aliud ad domnam Radegundem] Quo sine me mea lux oculis [se] errantibus abdit nec patitur visu se reserare meo? omnia conspicio simul: aethera flumina terram; cum te non video, sunt mihi cuncta parum. quamvis sit caelum nebula fugiente serenum, te celante mihi stat sine sole dies. sed precor horarum ducat rota concita cursus et brevitate velint se celerare dies. consultum nobis sanctisque sororibus hoc sit, ut vultu releves quos in amore tenes.

Historical context:

Bishop Venantius Fortunatus met Radegund and Agnes, whom Radegund had had installed as her abbess, when he visited Poitiers. They became good friends and exchanged epistolary poems and small gifts until the women died. After her death, Fortunatus wrote a life of Radegund emphasizing her ascetic qualities.

Printed source:

Venanti Fortunati Opera Poetica, ed. Fridericus Leo (Berlin: Weidmann, 1881), 258, Librum XI, ii.

Date:

after 567