A letter from Hildebert of Lavardin (?)

Translated letter:

1) He is foolish and sins who equates you to mortals/ it is little in praise, but you will be first to me among goddesses. 2) Imperial offspring, sublime by a series of ancestors, may what is sent, however small, please you, I pray. I do not want the hand suited to the scepter, the neck to the crown to bend to gifts for me: favor me with your mind. As it is enough to the people to have merited favor from above, when a small sacrifice to great gods falls, so your grace fulfills the wish; I err more than a man if I strive for more than to have pleased you.

Original letter:

1) Desipit et peccat qui te mortalibus equat est in laude parum sed eris mihi prima dearum (Scott, 10).(1) 2) Augusta suboles, serie sublimis avorum missa tibi placeant quantulacunque precor. nolo manus sceptris, vel cervix apta corone ad mea flectantur munera: mente fave. ut satis est popula superum meruisse favorem, cum cadit ad magnos hostis parva deos, sic implet votum tua gratia, plus homine erro, si plus affectem quam placuisse tibi (Scott, 15).

Historical context:

These are two poems Hildebert wrote probably to Adela. One is brief but flattering. In the other, a slightly longer one, he asks not for gifts, but for good will.

Scholarly notes:

(1)That Adela is the addressee of this poem is probable but not certain, see Scott, xxvii. Bond, The Loving Subject, 132, accepts the identification.

Printed source:

Hildeberti Cenomannensis episcopi, Carmina Minora, ed. A. Brian Scott (Leipzig: Teubner, 1969), 10, 15.

Date:

?