Saturday, June 9, 2012

Dum Colo Feminam, Hoc Fio

This is a distich from Daniël Heinsius' emblem collection entitled Ambacht van Cupido published in 1613. You can find the book online at the Emblem Project Utrecht.

Dum Colo Feminam, Hoc Fio
Non ego turpe putem deducere mollia fila:
Vidimus Herculeas pensa decere manus.


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

fīlum, fīlī n. - thread
Herculeus -a -um - Herculean, belonging to Hercules
pensum, pensī n. - weight, task, duty

colō colere coluī cultum: inhabit, cultivate
decet decēre decuīt: it becomes, it behooves (+ acc. of person, or infinitive)
dēdūcō -dūcere -dūxī -ductum: launch, lead away
dum: while (+ indic.); until (+ subj.); provided that (+ subj.)
ego meī mihi mē: I, me
fēmina -ae f.: woman
fīō fierī factus sum: become
hic haec hoc: this; hōc: on this account
manus -ūs m.: hand; band of men
mollis -e: soft, yielding, gentle
nōn: not
putō -āre: think, suppose
turpis -e: ugly, unsightly; disgraceful
videō vidēre vīdī vīsum: see