Epithalamion pii ac eruditi iuvenis M. Alberti Sulceri, Ecclesiae Christi apud Basilienses ministri, & pudicae virginis Iacobae Beckin

ON THE WEDDING OF THE PIOUS AND
LEARNED YOUTH M. ALBERT SULCER
AND THE CHASTE AND HONEST MAIDEN IA-
COBA BECKIN of Basel, Verses by
JACOB HERTEL of
Chur.

A decorative drop cap letter I begins the text.

Now Hymen the god of marriage excites new jubilations in the Rauracian region of Basel lands, filling Basel with a great murmur.
For the virgin of ingenuous modesty is joined in the bond of a marital bed to the well-learned Sulcer.
May this day therefore pass with a happy star for the bridegroom,
may this day therefore pass with a happy star for the bride.
Come hither, O best God of all things, supreme power,
come hither, eternal offspring of the eternal parent,
come hither, O divine power of the Holy Spirit.
Whose work is the beautiful palaces of heaven,
and whatever the fertile earth contains within its ample boundary,
and whatever the deep sea surrounds with its wandering waves.
You who first sanctioned the bonds of a lawful bed,
and commanded that mortals, bound forever by eternal love,
lead a fragile life:
Promising many good things, if they observed the dogmas of your word,
and offered to others certain signs of fear: through fear alone comes the glory of heaven.
Now may your rich blessing nourish this, because the learned youth enters a bond with a chaste maiden,
may they rejoice, joined from happy beginnings, into Pylian long and fruitful years.
Just as the promise of offspring was once made to the son of Isaac Jacob: so may this new bridegroom count his grandchildren with similar luck, with you favoring.
I, along with the primates, ask this of you, new bridegroom, with proven sincerity, and the mixed crowd prays this with me.