Tuesday, June 19, 2012

De Caelo et Terra

Here is another distich by John Owen, with an English translation by Thomas Harvey, 9.037:

De Caelo et Terra
Terra oculos prope tota latet, patet undique caelum;
Humani generis te puto, terra pudet.

OF HEAVEN AND EARTH
Th’ Earth’s greatest part is hid, Heav’n spreads abroad:
I think that th’ Earth’s asham’d of Men, her load.

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

pudeo, pudēre, puduī, puditum - to feel shame, be modest

caelum -ī n.: sky, heavens
dē: down from, about, concerning (+ abl.)
et: and
genus generis n.: origin, lineage, kind
hūmānus -a -um: human
lateō latēre latuī: lie hidden, be hidden
oculus -ī m.: eye
pateō patēre patuī: lie open, extend, spread
prope: near, next; (comp.) propior, (superl.) proximus; (adv.) propē, nearly, almost
putō -āre: think, suppose
terra -ae f.: land
tōtus -a -um: whole, entire
tū tuī tibi tē: you (sing.)
undique: from all sides, on all sides