Saturday, January 28, 2012

Victrix Patientia Duri

Here is today's emblem and distich by Gabriel Rollenhagen, Book 1.28, with an English rendering by George Wither. Here are the opening lines of Wither's own poem:

Some Trees, when Men oppresse their Aged Heads,
(With waighty Stones) they fructifie the more;
And, when upon some Herbs, the Gard'ner treads,
They thrive and prosper, better then before.
Although the "oppressed" tree in Rollenhagen's emblem does not look like a palm, the poem implies the "palm of victory" - just be patient, don't worry about the oppressive obstacles, and you will be a winner.

Victrix Patientia Duri
Omne malum superat victrix patientia duri
Ut nec ab imposito pondere palma perit.


No Inward Griefe, nor outward Smart,
Can overcome a Patient-Heart.



The vocabulary is keyed to the DCC Latin Vocabulary list. There are three words which are not on the DCC list:

palma f. - palm, palm of victory
patientia, f. - endurance, patience, suffering
victrix, victricis f. - victor, conqueress

ā, ab, abs: from, by (+abl.)
dūrus -a -um: hard, tough, harsh
impōno -ere -posuī -positum: put in, put on, impose, levy upon
malus -a -um: evil
neque, nec: and not, nor; neque . . . neque, neither . . . nor
omnis -e: all, every, as a whole
pereo -īre -iī -itum: perish, be lost
pondus poderis n.: weight
supero -āre: overcome, surpass, defeat
ut, uti: as (+ indic.); so that, with the result that (+ subj.)