Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Mors et Amor


110     -     111     -     112


Mors et Amor
Vincere vis mortem, fallentem vincere amorem?
   Mors et amanda tibi est, et metuendus amor.


Source: Giuseppe Gatti, Sales Poetici, Proverbiales, et Iocosi (1703). Meter: Elegiac. Note the dative that expresses agency with the gerundive: mors amanda tibi est, "you must love death."

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

amō -āre: to love; amans -ntis m./f.: lover
amor -ōris m.: love
et: and
fallō fallere fefellī falsum: deceive
metuō metuere metuī: to fear, to dread
mors mortis f.: death
tū tuī tibi tē: you (sing.)
vincō vincere vīcī victum: conquer
volō velle voluī: wish, be willing



Death and Love
Do you want to conquer death (vis vincere mortem), do you wan to conquer deceptive love? (vincere fallentem amorem) You should both love death (tibi et mors amanda est) and fear love (et metuendus amor).

Vincere ~ vis mor~tem, fal~lentem ~ vincere a~morem?
   Mors et a~manda ti~bi est, | et metu~endus a~mor.