Sunday, June 17, 2012

Petrus Bembo

This is from the enormous anthology of distich poetry assembled by Barthold Nihus, Epigrammata Disticha, published in 1642; the poem is by the Polish poet Caspar Cunradus. The poem is in praise of Pietro Bembo, the Italian humanist, invoking Seneca, Vergil and Cicero to express Bembo's many talents.

Petrus Bembo
Sum Seneca ingenio, Maro carmine, Tullius ore;
Quod tribus his, uni dat mihi Roma decus.


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

Maro - Publius Vergilius Maro, Virgil
Rōma f. - Rome, loc. Rōmae
Seneca - Seneca
Tullius - Marcus Tullius Cicero, Tully

carmen -inis n.: song
decus decoris n.: beauty, grace; ornament, glory, honor
dō dare dedī datum: give
ego meī mihi mē: I, me
hic haec hoc: this; hōc: on this account
ingenium -ī n.: disposition, ability, talent
ōs ōris n.: mouth, face
qui quae quod: who, which, what / quis quid: who? what? which?
sum, esse, fuī: be, exist
trēs tria: three
ūnus -a -um: one