Letter 7004: O clouds that come blown by the swift North Wind,

IV Likewise, to the same man. You clouds, who come driven by the swift-blowing North Wind, you whom the hanging wheel sets moving on its starry axle: tell me with what well-being my dear Gogo thrives, what he does, serene in mind amid tranquil affairs. Whether he tarries near the shores of the wave-wandering Rhine, so that the fat salmon is drawn from the waters in a net; or whether he wanders along the river of grape-bearing Moselle, where a light breeze tempers the burning day, and the vine and the stream soften the midday heat: the vine-shade stiff and cool, the wave from the flood fresh; or by the sweetly sounding Meuse, where there is crane, wild goose, tame goose, and swan, a river rich in threefold merchandise (in bird, in fish, in boat); or whether he keeps to where the Aisne is broken upon its grassy banks, by whose waters the pastures, meadows, and crops are nourished. The Oise? The Sarre? The Gers? The Scheldt? The Sate? The Somme? The Sauer? Or the river that comes to Metz, taking its name from salt [the Seille]? Or rather, roaming through the woods and glades of summer, does he bind the wild beasts here with the spear and there with the net, and slay them? Does the forest of the Ardennes or the Vosges thunder with its crashing, with the arrow-bearing slaughter of stag, roe, helix-horned creature, and wild ox? Or does he strike the field between the horns of the strong buffalo, and does the bear, the wild ass, the boar not delay its death? Or, tending his own fields, does he furrow the scorched fallow-land, and does the bull groan beneath the rough plows upon its neck? Or does he now sit happily in the palace hall, where the gathering school applauds him, devoted in love and following after? Or, together with sweet Lupus, do they ponder again the laws of piety, and with equal counsel produce gentle honey, by which the needy may be fed, may furnish solaces to the widow, that the small child may take a guardian and the destitute take aid? Whatever they do, may their happy prayers alike prosper, and may they be strong to enjoy the love of Christ the King. I beseech you, O winds, who run and return again, carry back tidings on behalf of his own Fortunatus.

IV Item ad eundem Nubila quae rapido perflante Aquilone venitis, pendula sidereo quae movet axe rota, dicite qua vegitet carus mihi Gogo salute, quid placidis rebus mente serenus agit: si prope fluctivagi remoratur litora Rheni, ut salmonis adeps rete trahatur aquis; an super uviferi Mosellae obambulat amnem, quo levis ardentem temperet aura diem, pampinus et fluvius medios ubi mitigat aestus: vitibus umbra rigens, fluctibus unda recens; aut Mosa dulce sonans, quo grus ganta anser olorque est, triplice merce ferax (alite pisce rate) an tenet herbosis qua frangitur Axona ripis, cuius aluntur aquis pascua prata seges? Esera? Sara? Gares? Scaldis? Sate? Somena? Sura? seu qui Mettis adit de sale nomen habens? aut aestiva magis nemorum saltusque pererrans cuspide, rete feras hinc ligat, inde necat? Ardenna an Vosagus cervi caprae helicis uri caede sagittifera silva fragore tonat? seu validi bufali ferit inter cornua campum, nec mortem differt ursus onager aper? an sua rura colens exusta novalia sulcat et rude cervici taurus aratra gemit? sive palatina residet modo laetus in aula, cui scola congrediens plaudit amore sequax? an cum dulce Lupo pietatis iura retractant consilioque pari mitia mella creant, quo pascatur inops, viduae solacia praestent, parvus tutorem sumat, egenus opem? quidquid agunt, pariter felicia vota secundent, et valeant Christi regis amore frui. vos precor, o venti, qui curritis atque reditis, pro Fortunato nuntia ferte suo.