The History of Seven
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One of the books on magic bought by Gilbert Norrell at the sale of the Duke of Roxburghe's library. The author is unknown and the matter of the book most confusingly expressed, but it appears to be in part a history of a city in Faerie, called Seven, and in part a complaint by the author of injuries he has received from some person not named. It is written in a mixture of Latin and English[28].
Only recently has a copy resurfaced. Though its origin is more than questionable and its purpose beyond confusion, I herewith present the introductory chapter (Praeludio) in its entirety:
Irae vocant me parvulo.
Numquid non ut me manere?
In dolo: et sede in interiori,
Surgendi tempus exspectans.
You had such a vision of the street
As the street itself can hardly understand.
Et ignis in oculis vestris
Nosse sinit nunquam fuit.
Et ego servus tuus, nisi pereunt, cum factum est.
Arise,go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it
Jonah at the walls of Nineveh.
Unus mihi peccáto.
Cupiditas est nomen meum, quid agis?
Curabitur peccáto digito.
On Malvern Hill, I looked across the peopled plain;
I lay down to rest and, sleeping, dreamt a dream.
Ergo quæ vidisti, et faciam vos volo.
Appetitus venisti mecum.
Quod meum est, ego capiam, quid non.
It is the evening of the world,
And it will soon be night.
In the dormitory countries,
The remnants of the green belt,
The crickets sing at sunset.
They need no sleep, no sun; they only sing.
Que haud morabor.
Una, quia non derelinquam te
Quibus satis nihil est, quia ego sum.
Acedia sum, sed vo-latis.
Non multum, sed quandoque maybe.
Tu mihi et ego non sum de vera fun.
Cum circa me nihil inveniet Factum.
Here in the city of Seven,
We also need no sun:
For we have furnace fires always lit.
And as for sleep, We do not sleep.
Sat tardus, non vos ergo decipiat.
Multa memini me peccatum lectus.
Praesent Morbi Aliquam carere mei.
Curabitur peccáto Trinitas.
Salve, sum ego, et in gloria mirum.
Quidam me inanis, sed erant 'iustus odio.
The dawn chorus of cups of tea rings out.
Did you feel the buildings shiver?
Facades are streaked with soot;
Blank windows cry woodfire tears.
Optimus sum ómnium delictórum.
Ego sum inter vos semper vincere.
Sto, et invisibilem
Cum autem sola potuit.
An echoing roar heralds the march
Of the smoke-screen maker,
The silver arrowhead, the frozen bird.
Sed ego omnia necessaria.
Curabitur peccáto quatuor.
Nomine non multi nesciunt.
Ego sum luxuria ardentes inferre.
Quid Sum semper aves.
Cum sum inter vos, non possint age.
Sine me nihil esset.
Domes and steeples, tower blocks and pylons,
Shine in silhouette against the city gloom.
Quid sum uobis.
Sine me, non superesse.
Curabitur quinque peccáto.
Novi te, et nosse me.
I heard the choir of angels;
I heard them in the halls,
And they echoed in the streets:
Yes, I heard them in a dream.
I heard them when awake;
I heard them in the dawn.
Sum, quod invidia, quod inuidia urit.
Will we stop? Will we rise? Will we rise again?
Non sum ego quod dicitis,
Arreptisque in venerationem tui.
Cum alii succedant, ibi erit.
Indignatiuncula me saepius.
Quae non potest consistere habeas.
Senarius peccáto sum.
We have been cast out from the temple
How are we to enter once again?
We are not here to live, here in the city of Seven,
We are in the egg of the phoenix
We feel the heat of flames
We are the ashes, we are the embers;
We shall fly, we shall grow again -
We will burn again.
Ego fere omnibus notum.
In the dormitory countries, they sleep to the sound
Of crickets singing.
Here, we do not sleep - we do not need to
We hear no singing - we cannot hear
And yet we live, until we die,
And then we cease to live among the crowds.
Feci difficile solvere.
Gula sum, simplex.
Quod ego vos Adipem.
Femora caterva cibum manducare
Quia non sum, sed habitu.
Potest etiam ad superos iter
Septenarium peccáto sum.
Nos septem peccatis mortalibus,
Aut nobis curam merentur.
Adpropinquabat
Nos autem fortes sumus
Nocetis derelicto nobis.
Ut non videat, sed illi, sedemus ibi
Feriendi expectantes.
Concupiscite ergo certum finem,
Vel ponam te in sepulcro.
It is the night-time of the world
But in the city of Seven there is no night;
Where there is no night there can be no end
World without end.
Only recently has a copy resurfaced. Though its origin is more than questionable and its purpose beyond confusion, I herewith present the introductory chapter (Praeludio) in its entirety:
Irae vocant me parvulo.
Numquid non ut me manere?
In dolo: et sede in interiori,
Surgendi tempus exspectans.
You had such a vision of the street
As the street itself can hardly understand.
Et ignis in oculis vestris
Nosse sinit nunquam fuit.
Et ego servus tuus, nisi pereunt, cum factum est.
Arise,go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it
Jonah at the walls of Nineveh.
Unus mihi peccáto.
Cupiditas est nomen meum, quid agis?
Curabitur peccáto digito.
On Malvern Hill, I looked across the peopled plain;
I lay down to rest and, sleeping, dreamt a dream.
Ergo quæ vidisti, et faciam vos volo.
Appetitus venisti mecum.
Quod meum est, ego capiam, quid non.
It is the evening of the world,
And it will soon be night.
In the dormitory countries,
The remnants of the green belt,
The crickets sing at sunset.
They need no sleep, no sun; they only sing.
Que haud morabor.
Una, quia non derelinquam te
Quibus satis nihil est, quia ego sum.
Acedia sum, sed vo-latis.
Non multum, sed quandoque maybe.
Tu mihi et ego non sum de vera fun.
Cum circa me nihil inveniet Factum.
Here in the city of Seven,
We also need no sun:
For we have furnace fires always lit.
And as for sleep, We do not sleep.
Sat tardus, non vos ergo decipiat.
Multa memini me peccatum lectus.
Praesent Morbi Aliquam carere mei.
Curabitur peccáto Trinitas.
Salve, sum ego, et in gloria mirum.
Quidam me inanis, sed erant 'iustus odio.
The dawn chorus of cups of tea rings out.
Did you feel the buildings shiver?
Facades are streaked with soot;
Blank windows cry woodfire tears.
Optimus sum ómnium delictórum.
Ego sum inter vos semper vincere.
Sto, et invisibilem
Cum autem sola potuit.
An echoing roar heralds the march
Of the smoke-screen maker,
The silver arrowhead, the frozen bird.
Sed ego omnia necessaria.
Curabitur peccáto quatuor.
Nomine non multi nesciunt.
Ego sum luxuria ardentes inferre.
Quid Sum semper aves.
Cum sum inter vos, non possint age.
Sine me nihil esset.
Domes and steeples, tower blocks and pylons,
Shine in silhouette against the city gloom.
Quid sum uobis.
Sine me, non superesse.
Curabitur quinque peccáto.
Novi te, et nosse me.
I heard the choir of angels;
I heard them in the halls,
And they echoed in the streets:
Yes, I heard them in a dream.
I heard them when awake;
I heard them in the dawn.
Sum, quod invidia, quod inuidia urit.
Will we stop? Will we rise? Will we rise again?
Non sum ego quod dicitis,
Arreptisque in venerationem tui.
Cum alii succedant, ibi erit.
Indignatiuncula me saepius.
Quae non potest consistere habeas.
Senarius peccáto sum.
We have been cast out from the temple
How are we to enter once again?
We are not here to live, here in the city of Seven,
We are in the egg of the phoenix
We feel the heat of flames
We are the ashes, we are the embers;
We shall fly, we shall grow again -
We will burn again.
Ego fere omnibus notum.
In the dormitory countries, they sleep to the sound
Of crickets singing.
Here, we do not sleep - we do not need to
We hear no singing - we cannot hear
And yet we live, until we die,
And then we cease to live among the crowds.
Feci difficile solvere.
Gula sum, simplex.
Quod ego vos Adipem.
Femora caterva cibum manducare
Quia non sum, sed habitu.
Potest etiam ad superos iter
Septenarium peccáto sum.
Nos septem peccatis mortalibus,
Aut nobis curam merentur.
Adpropinquabat
Nos autem fortes sumus
Nocetis derelicto nobis.
Ut non videat, sed illi, sedemus ibi
Feriendi expectantes.
Concupiscite ergo certum finem,
Vel ponam te in sepulcro.
It is the night-time of the world
But in the city of Seven there is no night;
Where there is no night there can be no end
World without end.