Jacob Cats, Spiegel (The Hague, 1632)
Emblem 51
Next to an old tree, an old spinster laments that she was too proud and thus missed her opportunities
Arbor secco non devient mai verde Cosi fa donne chi suo tiempo perdeItalian
A dry tree never becomes green again; so it goes with the woman who wastes her time.AI-generated
Description of the imageAI-generated
Within an oval medallion framed by a square border with dark corner spandrels, a woman in rich early-17th-century dress stands at the right: a tall lace-edged cap, a large pleated ruff, pearl necklaces, slashed sleeves and a long embroidered gown. She spreads her empty hands in a gesture of complaint or resignation. Beside and behind her rises a huge old, partly hollow and barkless tree whose bare branches carry hanging moss and a few withered twigs. Three owls perch on the branches above and to the right, a bat hangs from a branch at the left, a spider dangles on its thread at the far left, another bat or cat-like creature crouches in a hole at the foot of the trunk. In the background to the right are a river, clouds, and a distant town with a domed church; at the lower left a far-off village. Below the oval a banderole carries the motto 'Arbor secco non devient mai verde'.
Subscriptio
TranscriptionAI-generated
De oude Vrijster spreeckt Ick was een jonge stam van yder een gepresen, En met een schoon gewaey tot inde lucht geresen, Ick was een rancke spruyt, een gaef, een keestigh hout, Het groenste van de laen, het schoonste van het wout; Ick was een bosch alleen, daer al de vogels quamen, En gansche dagen langh haer soete vreugden namen, Daer menigh jongh-gesel, en menigh harder sat, Die slechts maer om de lucht van mijne tacken badt: Al watter geestich songh, dat wou sijn eerste nesten, Ter eeren mijner jeught, in dese tacken vesten; Maer ick was doen te trots, en daerom wild' ick niet, Nu stae ick hier alleen, gelijck een eensaem riet: Nu is mijn jeught gegaen, mijn bloeyssel af-gesegen, Mijn groen dient maer alleen tot stroyssel op de wegen, Al wat noch om my swiert en is geen jeughdigh blat, Maer niet als vuyle mosch, of, ick en weet niet wat. Ick vinde met verdriet, ick vinde datter uylen En ravens van der nacht in mijne tacken schuylen; Ick vinde met verdriet dat jae de vleder-muys Maeckt in mijn holle stam haer ongeluckigh huys: Dies roep ick over-luyt tot alle jonge boomen Die fris, en lustigh staen ontrent de verssche stroomen, En weest niet al te trots, ô dochters van het wout, Wat heden jeugdigh is dat wort ten lesten out, Dat wort, eylacen! kael, en al de groene tacken Die komen, sonder loof, die komen neder-sacken, En siet wien eens de tijdt haer jeught en groente nam, Die blijft dan naderhant die blijft een dorre stam: Gelooftet, fiere jeught, en leertet over-leggen, Tis kunst het gunstigh Iae in tijts te konnen seggen: Want die haer kans verkijckt, behout maer enckel spijt, Wel aen dan, letter op, en diendt u van den tijt.
TranslationAI-generated
The old spinster speaks: I was a young trunk, praised by everyone, and risen into the air with a fine spread of branches; I was a slender shoot, a sound, pithy wood, the greenest in the avenue, the fairest of the wood; I was a whole grove by myself, where all the birds came and all day long took their sweet pleasure, where many a young fellow and many a shepherd sat, who only begged for the air of my branches. Everything that sang wittily wanted to build its first nests in these branches, in honour of my youth; but I was then too proud, and therefore I would not. Now I stand here alone, like a lonely reed. Now my youth is gone, my blossom fallen away, my greenery serves only as litter on the roads; whatever still flutters about me is no youthful leaf, but nothing except foul moss, or I know not what. I find with sorrow, I find that owls and night-ravens lurk in my branches; I find with sorrow that indeed the bat makes its unlucky house in my hollow trunk. Therefore I cry aloud to all the young trees that stand fresh and lusty beside the clear streams: be not too proud, O daughters of the wood; what is youthful today grows old at last, it grows, alas, bald, and all the green branches come, without foliage, come sinking down. And see, whoever has once had her youth and greenness taken by time, she remains thereafter a withered trunk. Believe it, proud youth, and learn to consider it: it is an art to be able to say the favourable Yes in time; for she who misses her chance keeps nothing but regret. Come then, pay attention, and make use of the time.
CommentaryAI-generated
32 passages · original left, translation right (click to fold)
Engels. Hee that wil not when hee may When hee will shal have nay.
English. He that will not when he may, when he will he shall have nay.
Nederl. Tis kunst in tijts jae seggen. Grijpt alst tijdt is.
Dutch. It is an art to say yes in time. Seize it when it is time.
Franç. Tel refuse qui apres muse.
French. He refuses who afterwards dawdles (i.e. one refuses, and later hankers after it).
De l'eau qui est passé le molin ne moult plus.
The water that has passed the mill grinds no more.
Qui ne prend quant il peut Il n'aura quand il veut.
He who does not take when he can will not have when he wishes.
Quant le bien vient on le doit prēdre.
When the good comes, one must take it.
Ital. Che s'ha il vento in poppa besogna saper navigare.
Italian. He who has the wind at his stern must know how to sail.
Spaens. Quādo el hierro esta encēdido Entonces ha de ser batido. .i.
Spanish. When the iron is glowing, then it must be beaten.
Franç. Il faut batre le fer tandis qu'il est chaud.
French. One must strike the iron while it is hot.
Lat. Rerum occasiones tarditatē & ignaviā nostrā non exspectant.
Latin. The opportunities of things do not wait for our slowness and sloth.
Nederl. Die tijdt heeft/ en tijdt laet glijpen/ kan sijn leven niet bedijen.
Gaept als men u den lepel biet/ Of naderhant en krijghje niet.
Die altijdt vroegh ghenoegh komt/ komt veeltijts te laet.
Die verslaept sijn ochtent werck/ Bescheten is sijn dach werck.
Dutch. He who has time and lets time slip can never prosper in his life. Open your mouth when the spoon is offered you, or afterwards you will not get it. He who always comes early enough often comes too late. He who oversleeps his morning's work, his day's work is spoiled.
Ital. A ben fare non dar dimora Perche presto passa l'hora.
Italian. Do not delay in doing good, for the hour passes quickly.
Franç. Le temps se change en peu d'heure Tel rit le matin que le soir pleure.
French. The weather changes in a short hour; he who laughs in the morning weeps in the evening.
Nederl. Landt-koopen en goet huwelijck doen/ verschijnt allen dagh niet.
Dutch. Buying land and making a good marriage does not come along every day.
Spaens. Si te dieren la vaquilla Acude con la soguilla.
Spanish. If they give you the little cow, run up with the little rope.
Franç. Si on te donne la vachette, Accours avec la cordelette.
French. If they give you the little cow, run up with the little cord.
Lat. Vtendum est ætate, cito pede labitur ætas; Nec bona tam sequitur, quam bona prima fuit.
Latin. One must use one's time of life; with swift foot the years slip by, and no following good is as good as the first was.
Ital. Bisogna pigliar le venture, quando Iddio le manda.
Italian. One must take the chances when God sends them.
Franç. Marmite qui long temps boult perd sa saveur.
French. A pot that boils a long time loses its savour.
Qui ne prend quand il peut Il n'aura quand il vent.
He who does not take when he can will not have when he wishes.
Hoogd. Vor gethan vnd nach betracht Hat manchen in groß leiden bracht.
High German. Done beforehand and considered afterwards has brought many into great sorrow.
Franç. Apres domage, chacun est sage.
French. After the damage, everyone is wise.
Lat. Eventus stultorum magister. Malo accepto stultus sapit.
Latin. The outcome is the teacher of fools. Once harm has been suffered, the fool grows wise.
Strora. de Gargiliana.
Te juvenes te odêre, senes, desertaque langues; Quæ fueras procerum publica cura prius.
Strozzi, on Gargiliana. Young men and old men have come to hate you, and you languish deserted, you who once were the common care of the nobles.
Ovidius de Narcisso.
Multi illum juvenes, multæ petiere puellæ, Sed fuit in tenerâ tam dira superbia forma, Nulli illum juvenes nullæ petiere puellæ.
Ovid, on Narcissus. Many youths and many girls sought him, but there was such harsh pride in that tender beauty that no youths, no girls sought him.
Idem.
Nec quæ præterijt rursum revocabitur unda, Nec quæ præterijt est revocanda dies.
The same. Neither will the wave that has passed by be called back again, nor can the day that has passed be recalled.
Een Engels schrijver seydt op dese gelegentheyt/ als hier volght:
An English writer says upon this occasion, as follows:
Who hath a daughter but twenty yeers olde / wel may hee bestow her upon her better/ if 5 vpon her equall/ if aboue 25/ then upon whosoeuer list tot haue her.
Whoever has a daughter only twenty years old may well bestow her upon her better; if (twenty)five, upon her equal; if above twenty-five, then upon whoever cares to have her.
An hoc cum nostris moribus conveniat, lector videat.
Whether this agrees with our customs, let the reader judge.
VVie een dochter heeft van tvvintich jaer, kanse besteden met haer beter, die der eene heeft van 25. jaer, met haers gelijcke; dieder eene heeft daer boven, mette geene diese eerst versoeckt. Dan de jaren van dochters uyt te huvvelijcken, vvorden nae de verscheydentheyt van de plaetsen, landen, en naturen verscheydentlijck gherekent, als met volle leden vvert verhandelt by And. Tiraquell. l. connubial. 6. num. 36. & seqq.
Whoever has a daughter of twenty years may place her with her better; he who has one of twenty-five, with her equal; he who has one above that, with whoever first asks for her. But the ages for marrying off daughters are reckoned differently according to the diversity of places, countries and natures, as is treated at full length by And. Tiraqueau, De legibus connubialibus 6, no. 36 and following.
Quod Constantinus Cæsar de uvis servandis, id forte de puellis & virginibus maritandis non ineptè quis dixerit. oportet, inquit, in vigore existentes uvas resecare, & neque crudiores, neque vigorem prætergressas. lib. 4. cap. 14. de Agricul.
What the Emperor Constantine says about preserving grapes, someone might not inappropriately say about girls and maidens to be married. One ought, he says, to cut grapes while they are in their vigour, and neither too unripe nor past their vigour. Book 4, chapter 14, On Agriculture.
Auson. Epig. 15.
Ad Gallam, puellam jam senescentem.
Sprevisti, obrepsit non intellecta senectus, Nec revocare potes, qui periêre dies. Nunc piget, & quereris quod non aut ista voluntas Tunc fuit, aut non est nunc ea forma tibi.
Ausonius, Epigram 15. To Galla, a girl already growing old. You scorned love; old age crept up unnoticed, and you cannot call back the days that are gone. Now you are sorry, and you complain either that you did not then have this willingness, or that you do not now have that beauty.
Iconclass
86(ARBOR SECCO NON DEVIENT MAI VERDE COSI FA DONNE CHI SUO TIEMPO PERDE)proverbs, sayings, etc. (ARBOR SECCO NON DEVIENT MAI VERDE COSI FA DONNE CHI SUO TIEMPO PERDE)54B1212Missing an Opportunity31D17:42D92old woman❧single woman, spinster
Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated
Additional codes proposed for this emblem, not (yet) part of the indexing.
25F34owlshighThe correlate 'owls' matches the three owls perched on the branches of the dead tree.
25F28(BAT)flying mammals: bathighThe correlate 'flying mammals: bat' matches the bat hanging from a branch at the left (and the creature in the hollow trunk).
25F713spidershighThe correlate 'spiders' matches the spider dangling on its thread at the far left.
54B1212Missing an Opportunityhigh'Missing an Opportunity' is precisely the emblem's theme: the woman who refused suitors in time now stands empty-handed beside a withered tree that will never green again.
54B12Opportunity, Opportuneness, SeasonablenessmediumThe generic concept 'Opportunity, Opportuneness, Seasonableness' underlies the whole series of proverbs about striking while the iron is hot and taking things in season.
54B1213Seizing an Opportunitylow'Seizing an Opportunity' is the positive lesson urged by the commentary ('Seize it when it is time', 'strike the iron while it is hot'), though the image shows its failure.
23timelow'Time' is the broad subject of the commentary's insistence on the irretrievability of passing hours, days and years.
Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated
Suggested relationships between this emblem and adages in Erasmus’ Adagia.
- I i 31 Malo accepto stultus sapit – direct mottohigh
The emblem's Latin proverb-commentary cites verbatim 'Malo accepto stultus sapit', which is exactly Erasmus' adage I i 31, used here to gloss the French 'Apres domage, chacun est sage' and the spinster's belated regret.
- I i 30 Factum stultus cognoscit – essay quotehigh
The commentary's 'Eventus stultorum magister' reproduces the phrase Erasmus quotes and discusses in the essay on 'Factum stultus cognoscit' ('Fabius apud Titum Livium, Eventum stultorum magistrum appellat'), and it stands immediately beside the headword of I i 31.
- IV iv 21 Dum virent genua – thematic inventiomedium
Erasmus' adage ('while our knees are green' = while we are young; 'we should take a wife, but do so when we are young') states precisely the emblem's moral of greenness/youth as the time for marriage, matched by the dry-versus-green tree imagery and the Dutch verses on lost greenness.
- IV iii 86 Non semper erit aestas – thematic inventiomedium
The adage ('Summer will not last forever; make your nests... we shall not always be young, prepare for old age') matches the subscriptio's warning to the young trees where birds once nested, and the now leafless trunk of the aged spinster.
- I vii 70 Nosce tempus – thematic inventiomedium
Erasmus' adage on knowing one's moment, with its discussion of Kairos/Occasio ('fronte capillata, post est occasio calva'), is the classical commonplace behind the emblem's whole proverb-cluster ('Grijpt alst tijdt is', 'Qui ne prend quand il peut il n'aura quand il veut').
- IV x 39 Capere crines – thematic inventiomedium
Erasmus explains 'seize the locks' as grasping the offered opportunity, citing the forelocked, bald-backed god Kairos and, notably, a Plautine passage about a woman securing her lover — exactly the emblem's advice to say 'Yes' in time.
- III ix 67 Premenda occasio – thematic inventiomedium
The adage's point, that an opportunity once offered must not be allowed to slip through our hands, is the explicit lesson of the emblem's proverbs 'Grijpt alst tijdt is' and 'Quant le bien vient on le doit prendre'.
- IV iv 100 Nunc tuum ferrum in igni est – thematic inventiomedium
The emblem's Spanish and French proverbs about beating the iron while it is hot correspond to Erasmus' Occasio-adage on the iron in the fire, which likewise ends with Alexander's 'by never procrastinating'.
- I i 28 Sero sapiunt Phryges – thematic inventiomedium
The emblem's cluster of 'too-late wisdom' sayings ('Apres domage, chacun est sage'; 'Vor gethan vnd nach betracht') and the spinster's belated regret embody Erasmus' proverb of those who repent of their folly only when it is irreparable.
- II ii 64 Sera in fundo parsimonia – thematic inventiolow
Erasmus applies this adage expressly to the young who 'let the best years of life drift idly by' and begin to husband their time only when little is left — the very complaint of the old spinster.
- IV iii 59 Post acerba prudentior – thematic inventiolow
A near twin of the 'Malo accepto stultus sapit' cited in the commentary; it covers the same moral of becoming wise only through one's own misfortune, which is the spinster's hard-won lesson passed on to the young.
- I iii 92 Φίλαυτοι – thematic inventiolow
The commentary quotes Ovid's Narcissus ('tam dira superbia forma') to explain the spinster's ruinous pride, the same self-love/Narcissus complex that Erasmus treats under Philautoi.
Sources
Record ID: embstma_1288_emblem051
This emblem on the Iconclass site: https://iconclass.org/view/embstma_1288_emblem051
Copy: University Library, Glasgow, Stirling Maxwell 1288