‘Se sub serenis vultibus
Austera virtus occulit,
Timens videri, ne suum,
Dum prodit, amittat decus.’
Isaac Williams’ sensitive translation is a fit mate for the Latin:
‘Neath [a] look serene concealed,
Stern Virtue hid her shield,
Fearing to lose that Love, within,
Which half is lost by being seen.’
Such a motto, it might be urged, was both too personal