Friday, July 29, 2011

Reges et Prophetae

Here is another distich by John Owen, with an English translation by Thomas Harvey, 4.189.

Reges et Prophetae
Rex extra patriam, vel maximus, haud habet ullum
Imperium; in patria nemo propheta fidem.

Out of his Countrey, no King rules in chief,
No Prophet in his Countrey gains Belief.

The vocabulary is keyed to the DCC Latin Vocabulary list. There are two words in this poem that are not on the DCC list:

extrā: outside
prophēta (prophētae, m.): soothsayer, prophet

et: and
fidēs -eī f.: trust, faith
habeō habēre habuī habitum: have, hold
haud: not
imperium -ī n.: command, power
in: in, on (+ abl.); into, onto (+ acc)
māximus -a -um: greatest; māximē: most, especially, very much
nēmo: no one (gen. nullius, dat. nulli, abl. nullo or nulla > nullus -a -um)
patria -ae f.: fatherland, country
rēx rēgis m.: king
ūllus -a -um: any, anyone
vel: or else, or; even; vel . . . vel: either… or