Section: SPES (Hope). View all emblems in this section.
Link to an image of this page [D1v p50]
Spes proxima.
Hope at hand.
Innumeris agitur respublica nostra procellis,
Et spes venturae sola salutis adest:
Non secus ac navis medio circum aequore venti
Quam rapiunt: salsis iámque fatiscit aquis.
Quòd si Helenae adveniant lucentia sydera fratres:[1]
Amissos animos spes bona restituit.
Our country is battered by many a storm, and hope of future safety is all that we have. It is like a ship far out at sea, driven along by the tempest and already gaping open to the salty waters. Yet if the brothers of Helen, the shining stars, appear, then good hope revives the company’s lost courage.
1. ‘The brothers of Helen’, i.e. the stars Castor and Pollux, the Dioscuri, protectors of sailors.
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Relating to the image:
- stars [24D] Search | Browse Iconclass
- sea (seascape) [25H23] Search | Browse Iconclass
- wave [25H2311] Search | Browse Iconclass
- clouds [26A] Search | Browse Iconclass
- winds [26C] Search | Browse Iconclass
- storm at sea [26C32] Search | Browse Iconclass
- head (human) [31A221] Search | Browse Iconclass
- floating in the air (+ variant) [31A2763(+0)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- cheeks rounded [31B6241] Search | Browse Iconclass
- sailing-ship, sailing-boat (+ under way, at sea (~ travelling)) [46C24(+63)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Dioscuri changed into a constellation: in reward of their brotherly love, the Dioscuri are changed into a constellation (+ variant) [97G2(+0)] Search | Browse Iconclass
Relating to the text:
- good weather [26F1] Search | Browse Iconclass
- bad weather [26F2] Search | Browse Iconclass
- republic; 'Governo della republica' (Ripa) [44B03] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Adversity, Misfortune, Bad Luck; 'Fortuna infelice', 'Infortunio' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [54FF11(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Torment; 'Tribulatione' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [56BB12(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Hope; 'Speranza', 'Speranza delle fatiche' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [56D1(+4):51I4(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
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Link to an image of this page [C2v f5v]
EMBLEMA VI.
Firmissima convelli non posse.
The firmest things cannot be uprooted
Oceanus quamvis fluctus pater excitet omnes,[1]
Danubiumque omnem Barbare Turca bibas,[2]
Non tamen irrumpes perfracto limite, Caesar
Dum Charolus populis bellica signa dabit:[3]
Sic sacrae quercus[4] firmis radicibus astant
Sicca licent venti concutiant folia.
Though Father Ocean rouses all his waves, though, barbarous Turk, you drink the Danube dry, yet you shall not break through the boundary and burst in, while Emperor Charles shall give to his peoples the signal for war. Even so, holy oaks stand firm with tenacious roots, though the winds rattle the dry leaves.
Das VI.
Was sehr fest ist kan nit bewegt wer-
den.
Ob schon von West das ungstümm Meer
Mit seinen Wellen brausset her
Und du wütrich Türck von auffgang
Den an der Donaw wohnt machst bang
Link to an image of this page [C3r f6r]
So wirstu doch vermögen nicht
Ein schaden zuthun, dieweil verficht
Keyser Carle mit gewaltiger Hand
Und mit Heeresmacht Leut und Land
Gleich also wie ein Eychbaum bleibt
Fest unbewegt stehn, ob schon treibt
Hinweg die leichte Bletter dürr
Der grosse starcke Wind unghürr.
1. This poem is based on Anthologia graeca 9.291, which refers to a threat to ancient Rome from invading German tribes.
2. The Turks invaded along the Danube and reached Hungary, winning the battle of Mohacs in 1526. When Alciato was writing, they continued to threaten Vienna and Central Europe.
3. Caesar...Charlus, i.e. Emperor Charles V, led the charge to recover the lost territory.
4. ‘holy oaks’. Oaks were holy because sacred to Zeus, especially at his sanctuary at Dodona in Greece ([A67a201]). The image of the dry leaves is already present in the Greek poem, but see also Vergil, Aeneid 4.441-4.
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- trees: oak (+ plants used symbolically) [25G3(OAK)(+1)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- trees: oak (+ withering, leaves or flowers falling off) [25G3(OAK)(+35)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- mountains [25H11] Search | Browse Iconclass
- coast [25H13] Search | Browse Iconclass
- sea (seascape) [25H23] Search | Browse Iconclass
- prospect of city, town panorama, silhouette of city [25I12] Search | Browse Iconclass
- clouds [26A] Search | Browse Iconclass
- winds [26C] Search | Browse Iconclass
- bad weather [26F2] Search | Browse Iconclass
- sailing-ship, sailing-boat (+ under way, at sea (~ travelling)) [46C24(+63)] Search | Browse Iconclass
Relating to the text:
- Asiatic races and peoples: Turks [32B33(TURKS)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Constancy, Tenacity; 'Costanza', 'Tenacità' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [53A21(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Stability, Firmness; 'Fermezza', 'Stabilimento', 'Stabilità' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [53A22(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Invincibility (+ emblematical representation of concept) [54A71(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- historical person (with NAME) other representations to which the NAME of a historical person may be attached (with NAME of person) [61B2(CHARLES V [of Holy Roman Empire])3] Search | Browse Iconclass
- geographical names of countries, regions, mountains, rivers, etc. (names of cities and villages excepted) (with NAME) [61D(DANUBE)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- (story of) Oceanus [91B112] Search | Browse Iconclass
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