Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Opinio

Here is another distich by John Owen, with an English translation by Thomas Harvey, 3.88:

Opinio
Credere vult nemo, credi sibi quisque; fidemque,
Sicut amicitias, utilitate probat.

OPINION
None will believe, yet all would be believ’d:
So faith like friendship is by gain achiev’d.

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:

opīnio, opīniōnis f. - opinion, belief, reputation
ūtilitas, -ātis f. - usefulness, advantage

amīcitia -ae f.: friendship
crēdo -ere crēdidī crēditum: believe
fidēs -eī f.: trust, faith
nēmo: no one (gen. nullius, dat. nulli, abl. nullo or nulla > nullus -a -um)
probo -āre: approve, prove; convince one (dat.) of a thing (acc.)
que: and (enclitic)
quis-, quae-, quidque: each one, everyone
sīcut: just as
sui, sibi, sē: him- her- itself
volo velle voluī: wish, be willing