Thursday, July 28, 2011

Vir Facundus, Ager Fecundus

Here is another distich by John Owen, with an English translation by Thomas Harvey, 3.112.

Vir Facundus, Ager Fecundus
Facundus non est, qui multa, at qui bene dicit,
Ut nec fecundus, qui mala gignit, ager.

Not to speak much, but well, is Eloquence:
As fertile Fields good fruit not much dispence.

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

fācundus, -a, -um: eloquent, fluent
fēcundus, -a, -um: fertile, abundant

ager agrī m.: field
at: but, but yet
bene: well
dīcō dīcere dīxī dictum: say; causam dicere, plead a case; diem dicere, appoint a day
gīgnō gīgnere genuī genitum: beget, bear, bring forth
malus -a -um: bad, evil; male: (adv.) badly
multus -a -um: much, many; multō, by far
neque nec: and not, nor; neque . . . neque, neither . . . nor
nōn: not
qui quae quod: who, which, what / quis quid: who? what? which?
sum, esse, fuī: be, exist
ut, uti: as (+ indic.); so that, with the result that (+ subj.)
vir virī m.: man