Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Ad Lectores

Here is another distich by John Owen, with an English translation by Thomas Harvey, 7.124:

Ad Lectores
Non cuivis lectori, auditorive placebo;
Lector et auditor non mihi quisque placet.

TO THE READERS
All Readers, Hearers all I would not please,
Nor am I pleas’d with all of those, or these.

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

audītor, audītōris - listener, disciple, student
lector, lectōris m. - reader

ad: to, up to, towards (+acc.)
ego me mihi mē: I, me
et: and
nōn: not
placeo -ēre placuī placitum: please
quī- quae- quidvīs: any one you please, no matter what
quis-, quae-, quidque: each one, everyone