In this poem, the step-mother Clytie is the pope, while her daughters are bishops and her step-daughters cardinals. The origin of this poetic theme is unknown, but Andrew Melville and John Leech both wrote very similar poems (see d2_MelA_029 for full details). Metre: elegiac couplets.
Clytie (n.d.)
[p267]
Clytie
Privignis natisque micat comitata duobus
mater, et est cultu praedita quaeque suo.
Purpurea stat veste parens insignis et ostro, 1
circumstant natae pallidiore toga.
Sed cur privignis sublurida tota lacerna est?
Ista novercalis sunt monumenta odii.
[p267]
Clytie
The mother shines forth accompanied by her two daughters and two step-children, each of whom have been provided with their own attire. The parent stands resplendent in a purple gown, and her daughters stand around her in togas of a slightly less dazzling purple. But why do her step-children have cheap cloaks? These garments are monuments to their step-mother's hatred!
