Thursday, May 24, 2012

Verus Amor Dei


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Verus Amor Dei
Haec duo non animum possunt intrare sub unum:
Vanus amor mundi, verus amorque Dei.


Source: Philosophia Patrum (ed. Wegeler), 485. Meter: Elegiac. There is weak rhyme in the hexameter line (animum-unum), but not the strong full rhyme that you see in other medieval poems collected by Wegeler.

These two things (haec duo) cannot enter (non possunt entrare) into one soul (sub unum animum): an empty love of the world (vanus amor mundi) and (-que) a true love of God (verus amor Dei).

The vocabulary is keyed to the DCC Latin Vocabulary list. All the words in this poem are on that list:

amor -ōris m.: love
animus -ī m.: spirit, mind
deus -ī m.; dea -ae f. god; goddess
duo: two
hic, haec, hoc: this; hōc, on this account
intro -āre: enter
mundus -ī m.: world, universe, heavens
nōn: not
possum posse potuī: be able
que: and (enclitic)
sub: under, close to (+acc. or abl.)
ūnus -a -um: one
vanus -a -um: empty; false, deceitful
vērus -a -um: true; vērē, truly