Following on from my last blog post, two more of Gregory's laments for his kid brother. The first is addressed to their father, also named Gregory; the second ventriloquises the collective statement of Gregory Senior and Nonna, his wife, for whom 'our' Gregory wrote many epitaphs.
8.86
On the same
Gregory, your good fortune was to gain
A son who soared above all mortal men
In looks and wisdom, and our Emperor’s friend:
Yet he was powerless to overcome
Pitiless death. My fears were all too true.
What says the tomb, though? ‘Suffer and endure:
Caesarius is dead, yet you possess
The mighty reputation he had won,
To compensate you for your own dear son.’
8.87
On the parents of Gregory the Great and Caesarius
‘We two were ripe for burial, when here
The masons set this stone for our old age;
They set it for our use; but out of joint
Caesarius possesses it instead,
The last-born of our children. O our child,
Our child, we suffer grief beyond compare:
Make haste to welcome us into your tomb.’
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