Come and see him ascend Come and see his end Watch the flames ahead Slowly fall to the lands Below... Come and see him descend Come and see the end Come and see, come and join the dead Below... Sors tua mortalis, non est mortale, quod optas "Thy lot is mortal, not for mortals is that thou askest" Magna petis, Phaethon, et quae nec viribus istis munera conveniant nee tam puerilibus annis "Thou askest too great a boon, Phaethon, and one which does not befit thy strength and those so boyish years" Sors tua mortalis, non est mortale, quod optas "Thy lot is mortal, not for mortals is that thou askest" Ne dubita! Dabitur (Stygias iuravimus undas), quodcumque optaris; sed tu sapientius opta! "Nay, doubt it not, it shall be given, we have sworn it by the Styx, whatever thou dost choose. But, oh make wiser choice" Medio est altissima caelo, unde mare et terras ipsi mihi saepe videre fit timor et pavida trepidat formidine pectus "In mid-heaven it is exceeding high, whence to look down on sea and land oft-times causes even me to tremble" Phoebe, pater... O lux inmensi publica mundi, Phoebe pater "O common light of this vast universe, Phoebus my father" Your fearful words I will heed This flaming chariot shall ride But not too high to burn the skies Nor too low to scorch the earth Between the serpent and the altar Passing the bull and the archer Escaping the maws of Leo And the claws of Cancer The dawn now summons Mounted, reins in hand, I must ride... But my mortal weight feels like freedom To the horses, they pull and steer As if no one was riding, and so they veer From the course, to the earth, and burn the land below And so I descend... Diffugiant stellae, quarum agmina cogit Lucifer et caeli statione novissimus exit "The stars all flee away and the Morning Star closes their ranks as, last of all, he departs from his watch- tower in the sky"