Ovid tells the story of Daedalus and Icarus in Metamorphoses 8.183-235. The translation below is a little bumpy in places because I've tried to make each English line correspond to the Latin line.
| Latin | English |
|---|---|
| Daedalus interea Creten longumque perosus | Daedalus, meanwhile, loathing Crete and the long |
| exsilium tactusque loci natalis amore | Exile, influenced by love of his homeland, |
| clausus erat pelago. "Terras licet" inquit "et undas" | Was trapped by the sea. Granted, he said, the earth and sea |
| obstruat: at caelum certe patet; ibimus illac. | Block me. But the sky certainly is open; we will go that way. |
| Omnia possideat, non possidet aera Minos. | He may own everything, but Minos does not own air. |
| Dixit et ignotas animum dimittit in artes1 | He said this and turned his mind to unknown arts |
| naturamque novat. Nam ponit in ordine pennas | And he changed nature. For he placed wings in rows |
| a minima coeptas, longam breviore sequenti, | Beginning from the smallest, with shorter following long |
| ut clivo crevisse putes. Sic rustica quondam | So that you'd think they grew on a slope. Thus once a rustic |
| fistula disparibus paulatim surgit avenis. | Pipe little by little grows, made by unequal reeds. |
| Tum lino medias et ceris adligat imas, | Then he bound together the middle with flax and the inmost with wax, |
| atque ita compositas parvo curvamine flectit, | And so he bends the constructions with a small curve, |
| ut veras imitetur aves. Puer Icarus una | As if he were copying real birds. The boy Icarus |
| stabat et, ignarus sua se tractare pericla, | stood there and ignorant of his own danger in handling things |
| ore renidenti modo, quas vaga moverat aura, | with his mouth gleaming, which by the wandering breeze |
| captabat plumas, flavam modo pollice ceram | plumes moved, he would catch, and with thumb the golden wax |
| mollibat lusuque suo mirabile patris | Soften and playing with his father's marvelous |
| impediebat opus. Postquam manus ultima coepto | Work impede. After the hand by the last undertaking |
| imposita est, geminas opifex libravit in alas | Was set down, the workman balanced into twin wings |
| ipse suum corpus motaque pependit in aura. | His own body and he hung in the stirring wind. |
| Instruit et natum "medio" que "ut limite curras, | He teaches also his son, "You should run in the middle as the path," |
| Icare," ait, "moneo, ne, si demissior ibis | "Icarus," he says, "I warn you, if you fly the lower path, |
| unda gravet pennas, si celsior, ignis adurat | The waves will weigh down the feathers, and if higher, the sun will scorch them |
| Inter utrumque vola. Nec te spectare Booten | So fly between the two. And that you not look at Bootes, |
| aut Helicen iubeo strictumque Orionis ensem: | Or Helicen, I ask, or the sword of Orion |
| me duce carpe viam." Pariter praecepta volandi | With me as leader, take the way." Likewise, the lessons of flying |
| tradit et ignotas umeris accomodat alas. | He hands over and adjusts the unknown wings onto shoulders. |
| Inter opus monitusque genae maduere seniles | During the work and the warnings, the old cheeks dripped with tears |
| et patriae temuere manus. Dedit oscula nato | And the hands of the father trembled. He gave kisses to his son |
| non iterum repetenda suo, pennisque levatus | That would not be returned to him again, and supported by wings |
| ante volat comitique timet, velut ales, ab alto | First he flies and fears for his companion, as if a bird from a high |
| quae teneram prolem produxit in aera nido | Nest who led forth in air young offspring |
| hortaturque sequi damnosasque erudit artes | And urges them to follow and teaches them the ruinous art |
| et movet ipse suas et nati respicit alas | And moves her own by herself and looks back on the wings of her child |
| Hos aliquis tremula dum captat harundine pisces | Trembling while she captures these fish by some reed |
| aut pastor baculo stivave innixus arator | And the shepherd resting on a stick or, if you like, a farmer |
| vidit et obstipuit quique aethera carpere possent | Saw and was amazed by they who could seize heaven |
| credidit esse deos. Et iam Iunonia laeva | And he believed them to be gods. And now on the left Junonian |
| parte Samos (fuerant Delosque Parosque relictae) | Samos (both Delos and Paros were left behind) |
| dextra Lebinthos erat fecundaque melle Calymne | On the right was Lebinthos and Calymne abundant in honey |
| cum puer audaci coepit gaudere volatu | When the boy began to rejoice in bold flight |
| deseruitque ducem caelique cupidine tractus | And he left the leader and dragged by desire of the sky |
| altius egit iter. Rapidi vicinia solis | He goes a higher path. The nearness of the swift sun |
| mollit odoratas, pennarum vincula, ceras | Softens the fragrant wax, the chains of the wings |
| Tabuerant cerae: nudos quatit ille lacertos, | Had melted of wax: The boy shakes his bare arms |
| remigioque carens non ullas percipit auras | And lacking oarage he does not secure the wind |
| oraque caerulea patrium clamantia nomen | And his mouth's shouting of the name of the father by the blue |
| excipiuntur aqua: quae nomen traxit ab illo | Sea is received: which name it got from him. |
| At pater infelix nec iam pater 'Icare' dixit | But the unlucky father is now not a father, "Icarus," he said |
| 'Icare' dixit, 'ubi es? qua te regione requiram' | "Icarus," he said, "Where are you? Where should I find you?" |
| "Icare," dicebat: pennas adspexit in undis | "Icarus," he kept saying: he saw the wings in waves |
| devovitque suas artes corpusque sepulcro | And cursed his own arts and the body in a tomb |
| condidit, et tellus a nomine dicta sepulti | He places and the ground was called by the name of the burial. |
There's a famous painting Landscape with the Fall of Icarus based on this poem:
This painting shows up in W.H. Auden's "Musee des Beaux Arts."
Resources
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The epigraph of James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. ↩