Poem, no date (1593), Raymund Minderer to Johann Balthasar Hager
ad Ioannem Balthazarvm Ha-
gervm, artivm liberalivm magistrvm,
cùm suas de rebus Metallicis assertiones defenderet,
Scripta à Raimundo Minderer Augustano, Logices studioso
Balthazar Sophicis dedite litteris,
Et præstans animo moribus optimo:
Sunt quos auriferum, per solidißima
Telluris mediæ viscera, puluerem
Vestigare iuuat; resq́ue metallicas
Depurare focis vsque recentibus.
Sunt qui nec tumidis fluctibus Africum,
Nec terras metuunt gentis inhospitæ:
Vt quod logna dies, & labor, abditis,
Effossum latebris eruit, hoc suis
Lucri materiam mercibus aggerant.
Sunt quos ampla nouis atria mercibus
Exornare iuuat: & quod humo diu
Celatum iacuit, iam nitide ignibus.
Excoctum, parijs figere postibus.
Tantires fragiles, res luteas facit,
Virtutis populus nescius inclytæ.
Ast Hagere tibi mens melioribus
Intus plena bonis: quod perit in diem,
Aut sese spatio temporis atterit,
Aspernata; putat scire beatius
Ecqu&ealig; res generet caussa metallicas.
Hoc est laureolas præmia frontium
Doctarum, studijs promeritum suis.
Hoc est se populo tollere celsius,
Et famam pariter nobilibus suam.
Immiscere viris. sic age, sic tuum
Et nomen sophicis insere mentibus
sublimique feri sydera vertice.
translation
Ode to Johann Balthasar Hager, Master of Liberal Arts, written by Raimundus Minderer of Augsburg, a student of logic, when Hager defended his assertions on metallurgical matters.
Balthasar, devoted to philosophical studies and possessing an excellent character, there are some who enjoy searching through the deepest veins of the earth for gold-bearing dust, and refining metals continuously in their furnaces. Others fear neither the swelling waves of the southern seas nor the lands of inhospitable peoples, so that what time and labor have extracted from hidden places can be brought to the surface, providing material for their profit. Some find pleasure in adorning large halls with new goods, and what lay long concealed in the earth is now skillfully melted down by fire and fixed to grand doorways.
Such fragile and worthless things, made from clay, are the pursuits of people ignorant of true virtue. But you, Hager, have a mind filled with better riches within. You scorn what perishes daily or wears away over time and believe that it is far more blessed to understand what generates metallic substances. This is the reward of scholarly achievement, the crown of laurels for learned efforts. It is through this that one raises oneself above the masses, bringing honor to one's name among the nobility and mingling with men of distinction.
Thus, proceed in this way, and inscribe your name in the minds of the learned, raising your head to the stars.
