A letter from Fortunatus (after 567)

Translated letter:

May the mother and sister remain with healing night: may the favorable prayers of the son and brother carry here; may the angelic assemblage visit your hearts and rule the dear breasts with their talk. The times of night make me greet with this brevity: I pray you, offer now six lines or two.

Original letter:

Nocte salutifera maneant materque sororque: hoc nati et fratris prospera vota ferant; angelicus coetus praecordia vestra revisat et regat alloquiis pectora cara suis. tempora noctis agunt, ut hac brevitate salutem: sex modo versiculis vel duo ferte, precor.

Historical context:

Bishop Venantius Fortunatus met Agnes and her patron, Radegund, 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:

Venantii Fortunati, Opera Poetica, ed. Fridericus Leo (Berlin: Weidmann, 1881), 284, Appendix, xv.

Date:

after 567