Hibernicus exul
Encyclopedia
Hibernicus exul is the name given to an anonymous Hiberno-Latin
Hiberno-Latin
Hiberno-Latin, also called Hisperic Latin, was a learned sort of Latin literature created and spread by Irish monks during the period from the sixth century to the tenth century.-Vocabulary and Influence:...

 poet of the Carolingian Renaissance
Carolingian Renaissance
In the history of ideas the Carolingian Renaissance stands out as a period of intellectual and cultural revival in Europe occurring from the late eighth century, in the generation of Alcuin, to the 9th century, and the generation of Heiric of Auxerre, with the peak of the activities coordinated...

 who lived and wrote in Francia. The poet has been variously identified with both Dungal
Dungal
-People:* Saint Dungal* Dungal of Bobbio* Indrechtach mac Dungalaig* Dúngal Eilni mac Scandail* Dúngal mac Amalgado* Dúngal mac Cellaig* Dúngal mac Selbaig or Dungal of Dalriada-Places:*Dungal, Guinea-Bissau, near Badancar...

 and Dicuil
Dicuil
Dicuil, Irish monk and geographer, born in the second half of the 8th century.-Background:The exact dates of Dicuil's birth and death unknown...

. Thirty-eight of his poems are extant, all of which are preserved in a single manuscript in the Vatican Library
Vatican Library
The Vatican Library is the library of the Holy See, currently located in Vatican City. It is one of the oldest libraries in the world and contains one of the most significant collections of historical texts. Formally established in 1475, though in fact much older, it has 75,000 codices from...

 (Bibl. Apostolica, Reg. lat. 2078).

The anonymous exile's most famous work is a fragmentary Latin eclogue
Eclogue
An eclogue is a poem in a classical style on a pastoral subject. Poems in the genre are sometimes also called bucolics.The form of the word in contemporary English is taken from French eclogue, from Old French, from Latin ecloga...

 praising Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...

 for his defeat of Tassilo III of Bavaria
Tassilo III of Bavaria
Tassilo III was duke of Bavaria from 748 to 788, the last of the house of the Agilolfings.Tassilo, then still an infant, began his rule as a Frankish ward under the tutelage of the Merovingian Mayor of the Palace Pepin the Short after Tassilo's father, Duke Odilo of Bavaria, had died in 747 and...

 in 787. The poem, Ad Karolum Regem (To King Charles) in the Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Monumenta Germaniae Historica
The Monumenta Germaniae Historica is a comprehensive series of carefully edited and published sources for the study of German history from the end of the Roman Empire to 1500.The society sponsoring the series was established by the Prussian reformer Heinrich Friedrich Karl Freiherr vom...

 and In Praise of Poetry in Peter Godman's excerpted English translation, is written as a dialogue between poet and Muse
Muse
The Muses in Greek mythology, poetry, and literature, are the goddesses who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge, related orally for centuries in the ancient culture, that was contained in poetic lyrics and myths...

 (the parts of which are diffictult for modern editors to perfectly discern), an idea picked up by Walahfrid Strabo. The poem begins with a description of Charlemagne and Tassilo, dux inclitus (distinguished duke). Charlemagne's gifts to the disobedient Tassilo, Tassilo's ceremonious submission and payment of tribute, and the reconciliation of the two Christian princes are the major themes of the opening part of the work. The remainder is filled by the dialogue of the humble poet with nothing of great worth for the king and the Muse who shows him the immortality of poetry. To the historian, the exuls poem indicates the high value ascribed to generosity and reconciliation amongst Christians and portrays the defeated duke in a fair light. The exaltation of poetry (by a poet) was necessary in a world that concentrated on material and especially martial success. The poet also affirms that secular subjects are equally worthy as sacred ones for versification; one of the earliest Latin Christian defences of courtly
Curia Regis
Curia regis is a Latin term meaning "royal council" or "king's court."- England :The Curia Regis, in the Kingdom of England, was a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics that advised the king of England on legislative matters...

/public
Public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individuals, and the public is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the Öffentlichkeit or public sphere. The concept of a public has also been defined in political science,...

 panegyric
Panegyric
A panegyric is a formal public speech, or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing, a generally highly studied and discriminating eulogy, not expected to be critical. It is derived from the Greek πανηγυρικός meaning "a speech fit for a general assembly"...

.

Hibernicus exul also wrote a couple of Latin epigram
Epigram
An epigram is a brief, interesting, usually memorable and sometimes surprising statement. Derived from the epigramma "inscription" from ἐπιγράφειν epigraphein "to write on inscribe", this literary device has been employed for over two millennia....

s illustrating two contrasting pedagogical methods: encouragement and threat. The first draws on proverbs in the Disticha Catonis and goes like this:
Discite nunc, pueri! Docilis cito vertitur aetas,
Tempora praetereunt axe rotante diem.
Ardenti ut sonipes carpit celer aequora cursu,
Sic volat, heu, iuvenis non remanente gradu.
Curvantur facili vi lenta cacumina virgae,
Sed rigidos ramos flectere nemo valet.
Dum faciles animi vobis sint forte, sodales,
Discere ne pigeat scita superna dei.
Ne bene concessum spatium perdatis inane,
Nam sine doctrina vita perit hominum.
Learn now, boys! The age for learning passes swiftly,
time goes by, as the heavens revolve the days fllow.
Just as the swift charger gallops eagerly over the fields,
so youth flies by without lingering as it passes.
The pliant tip of the twig curves beneath an easy pressure
but no one can bend the stiff boughs.
While your minds happen to be receptive, my friends,
waste no time and leaern the divine commands of God.
Do not squander the period generously granted to you,
for without learning the life of man perishes.
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