Earth, lie lightly on her
To your shades Fronto, and Flacilla, this child
I commend: she was my sweet and my delight.
Little Erotion shall not fear the darkened shades
nor the vast mouths of the Tartarean hound.
She’d have completed her sixth chill winter,
if she’d not lived a mere six days too few.
Now let her frisk and play among old friends
now let her chatter, and so lisp my name.
And let the soft turf cover her brittle bones:
earth, lie lightly on her: she lay lightly on you.
[translation by A. S. Kline]
[lang_it]Un epigramma funerario di Marziale (40-104 d.C.). L'augurio "Sit tibi terra levis" ("Che la terra ti sia leggera") era frequente nelle iscrizioni funerarie.An epigram by Martial (A.D. 40-104). "Sit tibi terra levis" ("May the earth rest lightly on you") was an inscription commonly used on funerary items.
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