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Emma Park, Classics Fellow
Valedictio
Lavs Marlborensis
MMVIII
hic uirides aestu, gelidi canente pruina
montes; autumno purpura mira regit;
uere nouo liquidae recreant sua carmina uoces
alitium et surgit flos inopertus humo:
quattuor hic annos habitas, o fortis alumnae,
omnia diffcile est dicere facta tua.
in siluis audes Academi quaerere uerum
multaque in arcanos uincere, doct, libros;
nocted atque dies duri praecepta magistri
discis, dum socii sis memor usque tui;
nec tamen ignot populi moresque remoti
terrarum que orbem ciuis inire potes.
iamque nihil nisi uerba manent exire uolenti,
nam mihi finis adest principiumque tibi.
A Valediction
in Praise of the Seniors at Marlboro
Commencement, 18 May 2008
For four years you students have lived among these mountains, green in
the summer, icy in the winter, and purple in the autumn. Now, in the
spring, when the birds are renewing their song and the flowers beginning
to grow again, it is difficult to recall all the things which you have
done here. You have dared to pursue knowledge in these erudite woods,
and to master the mysteries of arcane books. You have worked day and
night under your teachers' exacting guidance, although you never lost
sight of the community. You have even gone abroad and experienced the
customs of different nations, and are ready to become a citizen of the
world. Now nothing but my words prevents you from setting out. It is
time for me to finish, and you to begin.
