Page:Familiar letters of Henry David Thoreau.djvu/57

Rh moratur. Memento scribere intra duas hebdomedas.

Te valere desiderium est

Tui Matris,

P. S. Epistolam die soils proxima expectamus. (Amanuense, H. D. T.)

Barring a few slips, this is a good and lively piece of Latin, and noticeable for its thought as well as its learning and humor. The poets were evidently his favorites among Latin authors. Shall we attempt a free translation, such as Thoreau would give?

1em ,—There is a huge snowdrift at the door, and the cold inside is intolerable. The very sky is coming down, I guess, and covering up the ground. I turn out late in the morning, and go to bed early; there is thick frost on the windows, shutting out the view; and here I write in pain, for fingers and brains are numb. I would chant with Horace, if my voice did not stick in my throat,—

See how Nashawtuck, deep in snow, Stands glittering, while the bending woods