Symbols of the Golden Table of the Twelve Nations

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Indeed, because you shine with remarkable virtue (a marvel!),
And can scarcely have an equal to yourself:
Behold, Caesar Referring to the Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf II, who granted Maier his titles and nobility. has granted you these splendid insignia,
Which fittingly contain something of a secret.
For just as the swift bird of Jupiter The eagle, which in alchemical symbolism represents the volatile spirit or the "sublimation" of matter. flies toward the sun
And gazes into the rays of light with a sharp eye:
In no other way do you, swift with the sharpness of your mind, search out
The mysteries of nature, which have long lain hidden.
Just as you also see in the toad, a lover of the earth,
Who, unless he is lifted up, crawls on the ground as before:
So unless virtue lifts a man up, he cares only for mortal things
And is accustomed to seek earthly things, just like a toad The pairing of the eagle (volatile) and the toad (fixed) is a famous alchemical emblem representing the union of the spirit and the body..
What of the double helmet? Arising from bright virtues,
For you indeed shine with a twofold nobility.
As for what remains: use these insignia happily,
O Laurel-bearer original: "Lauriger"; a reference to Maier's status as a Poet Laureate., and hold this title of nobility.

THE AUTHOR'S EPIGRAM.

A single work is said to have divided the unanimous peoples
Of the primeval time into various sounds:
That is to say, it was the Babylonian tower, when its peak
Was meant to be made equal to the ethereal poles.
So that the tongue might pay the penalty for the crime of the insane mind,
Alas for me, how many different modes of speech it brought forth!
Here the people poured out idioms never heard before,
And here brother gave to brother barbarous words.
Here "stone" is not "stone" original: "Non lapis hic lapis est"; a play on words suggesting that when language failed, the very names of the building materials became confusing or "barbarous."—though it might seem to be one thing,
It began to have ambiguous meanings.
There was no harmony of mind and mouth for the peoples;
No one could speak the true feelings of their soul.