Carmen Gēhnis

Carmen epicum Latīnum ad mȳthologiam lūdōrum Mystārum pertinēns, quō virī Gēhnis historia narrātur, annō MMXVIII incohāvī. Hexametrōs hōs compōnendōs adhūc pergō et bona exercitātiō in linguā poēsīque est mihī. Tōta poēma ēdētur cum (vel sī) opus perficiam; nunc autem eclogae nōnnūllae carminis ostenduntur.

In 2018 I began work on a Latin epic poem based on the mythology of the Myst games, telling the story of Gehn. Composing this poem is an ongoing project, and offers me valuable language practice and poetic experience. The epic will be published in full when (or if) it is completed; for now, a few excerpts are presented here.

Vasta latet sub humīs ā tempore fossa caverna
immēnsō tellūris in īmīs. Hīc lacus infrā
fūsilium fervet lapidum rutilus; calet aura
hīc onerōsa; et suprā pōns saxō fabricātus
arte hominum tendit. Magnum illō trāmite sōlus
Gēhn spatium trānsīvit, flammeā utrimque ruīnā;1
vix animam dūxit. Pupugit calor ōs oculōsque
alluit et caligās: haud autem cessat et haeret
dum vir, ad ultima tandem perveniēns, ubi caecus
ecce cunīculus in rūpem sinuāt hypogaeam,2
haustaque callis, prōgrediātur opācum in hiātum.

Tum saxea in ātria prōdit,
ex alsīs accīta recessibus, ipsa Tiāna:3
cānitiēs pinxit crīnīs, faciemque vetustās
corrūgāverat asperitāsque diūtina vītae;
alta tamen perstat, nec nōn patuēre decōrēs
quī quondam intuitum flexēre cavernicolārum
fāmam et adeptī sunt. Miscērī jamque videntur
ōribus affectus māternīs opprobriumque:
“Gēhn mī, prō caelōs quārē nōn ante redistī?
Longōs anxia contrīvī maerōribus annōs,
ignōrāns an adhūc spīrārēs, quāve vagēris;
fīlius et vīxit, propius crēvitque puellus
pūbis ad aetātem: numquam nōvit genitōrem.
Tē sānum crēdamne revertī, cuī dubitāvī
lūmina mē vītā fīxūram?” Sēdula māter
amplius amplectī nātum nōn temperat inde.

Prīmum ātrāmentī rapuit fabricam furiālis
Volcānus, pretiōsō flammās pulvere alente
cȳaneō; jēcit fūmōrum taetra columna
aedēs in cunctās signum vīcōsque pavōris.
Complūrēs sēcūrae ultrō fūrtim spoliantur
intrōrumpunturque domūs, cum perfida vēlum
occultāns obdūcat Nox scelerī; neque vestrī
mūrī etiam, generōsī patrēs, excipiuntur,
dīvitiīs ēreptīs et sacrīs proavōrum
marmore imāginibus.

Rēs horrendissima deinde:
Collēgī Cōnservātōrum fortis ephēbī,
bīnī tīrōnēs, flōrente aetāte virīlī,
foedē sunt caesī; squālae jactāta recessū
āreolae frīgente, velut pūtēns laniōnis
colluviēs vel viscus, ita exanimāta jacēbant
corpora. Vae! nē rīte quidem possum tribuendōs,
nōminibus mihi nescītīs, persolvere honōrēs.
Rūmor apud plēbem discurrēbat, nequiente
vēra ūllō dīgnōscere luxuriōsaque ficta:
dormīmus vigilāmusque impendente nocentis
terrōre obscūrī. Sed dēmum compita nōmen
incipiunt audīre susurrātum et fora crēbra
exōsī Veovis; tandem cognoscimus omnēs
aerumnās populī facinus vērē istius esse.

Collēgī Djāīrus adest in sēde magister4
Scrīptōrum, quī tantum mente creant calamōque;
et ductor Lapicīdārum – quibus absque fuisset
nec via, nec domus aulave, nec vērō nihil urbis –
nōmine Nēhīrus. Nōbīs quī fructibus agrī
fertilis et vītis rētisque parant alimentum,
Obsōnātōrum ēlectjōne magister Orannis;5
atque metallicus Urrās, fossōrum caput hōrum
sub terrā quī plumbaque et aera petunt chalybemque.
Vectōrum venit et magnus Tezāra magister:
ab sollertibus hīs rectē citiusque viātor
merx omnisque et epistola portantur; venit autem
prō Textōribus antistes dextrīs Faranescus,
quī lānās tēlā subigunt et sērica acūque.
Hīc caput Aedificātōrum prūdēns Ereādis,
mūrī operīs quōrum surgunt vel tecta vel aedēs;
hīc quoque princeps Collēgī Jēnās Medicōrum,
ars quibus est sānāre hominum morbōsque luēsque.