Epic, Lyric, and Elegiac Poems of Andreas Libavius

Behold, however, how the Moon had loosened her fires,
And in order to favor the atrocious undertakings of the Muslims,
She had shone with a lamp, pure through the open, clear sky,
A circumstance which was not suitable for concealing plans
(For splendor reveals hiding places, and the thefts of QUIRINUS a name for Romulus, symbolizing Rome/the Roman state
So that he might not be able to press upon the unwary through the black silences.)
She was hiding her face with clouds called down from heaven,
Ordered at last to restrain her flames in the darkness,
Just as when Phoebus the Sun furrows contrary spaces
In the sky, and the daughter of Latona the Moon suffers dark night
And shadows, because the mass of the earth forbids her
To catch her brother's fires and to shine with light.
Immediately, hiding her dark head among the clouds,
She refrained her face from the lands, lest she might chance to see
Her beloved people fall in an unexpected slaughter.
Thus may the power of things and the guardianship of the pious go, and
You, O powerful GOD of the world, just as the ether looks less
Upon the Caesarean Imperial battle lines, perhaps he may be present from other shores,
And the elements labor to confer help upon the pious.
Let not only Cynthia the Moon run into the dense clouds,
And remove the view from the wall of the vigilant crowd:
Arise at once, O air, thicker with darkness,
And fill the minds with shadows, and the ears with blasts,
Lest they be able to catch the neighing, and the noise of the wheels,
And the weapons of the soldier now about to enter the gates.
Not otherwise than once, when the wing of the Pharian Prince Pharaoh
Sought to subvert the descendants of Abraham, and to destroy them with the sword,
Black night interposed itself in the middle, and took the day
From their eyes, having thrown threatening flames,
And holding the enemies with horrific roarings, and driving them.
Know, O Caesar, that GOD is present, and prepared in your hearts
Move the camp. For by what sign better to reveal itself