Friday, February 10, 2012

Amor Coniugalis

Here is today's distich by John Owen, with an English translation by Thomas Harvey, 9.21. This is a typical Owen paradox, contrasting the situation in the heavens and on the earth in terms of love on the one hand, and marriage on the other.

Amor Coniugalis
Plurimus in coelis amor est, connubia nulla;
Coniugia in terris plurima, nullus amor.


WEDLOCK, LOVE
No weddings, but much Love’s in Heaven above:
On Earth are many Weddings, but no Love.

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

coniugālis -e, -is - relating to marriage, married (adj.)
coniugium, n. - union, marriage, wedlock
cōnūbium, -i n. - marriage, wedlock
 
amor -ōris m.: love
caelum -ī n.: sky, heavens
in: in, on (+ abl.); into, onto (+ acc)
nūllus -a -um: not any, no one
plurimus -a -um: the greatest number of, very many; plurimī, most people
sum, esse, fuī: be, exist
terra -ae f.: land