Friday, January 27, 2012

Ubi Helena, Ibi Troia

Here is today's emblem and distich by Gabriel Rollenhagen, Book 1.27, with an English rendering by George Wither. Here you can see the men warring in the street for the affections of the woman looking out of the window! Note the odd word order in the Latin: the est of the second line goes with the bella puella of the first line: ubi bella puella ... est, (ibi) bella movet.

Ubi Helena, Ibi Troia
Certe ubi Tyndaris est, ibi Troia; ubi bella puella
Bella movet telis aemula turba est suis.


Where Hellen is, there, will be Warre;
For, Death and Lust, Companions are.


Here is the vocabulary:

ubi - where
Helena - Helen
ibi - there
Troia - Troy
certe - certainly, for sure
Tyndaris - Helen, daughter of Tyndareüs of Sparta
bellus - pretty
puella - girl
bellum - war
moveo - move, stir, agitate
telum - weapon
aemulus - jealous, envious, rival
turba - crowd
sum - be, exist
suus - reflexive possessive

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