Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Velle Tuum Meum Est


161     -     162     -     163


Velle Tuum Meum Est
Quod cupis, id cupio; quod spernis, sperno; tuumque
Velle meum velle est, nolleque nolle meum.


Source: Giuseppe Gatti, Sales Poetici, Proverbiales, et Iocosi (1703). Meter: Elegiac. Note the use of the infinitives velle and nolle as nouns, neuter in gender, hence the neuter adjectives tuum and meum, in agreement with the nouns.

What you want (quod cupis), I want (id cupio); what you reject, I reject (quod spernis, sperno) and your yes  tuumque velle) is my yes (meum velle est), and your no is my no (nolleque nolle meum).

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:

sperno, spernere: scorn, reject, despise

cupiō -ere -īvī -ītum: desire
is ea id: he, she, it
meus -a -um: my
nōlō nōlle nōluī: be unwilling
que (enclitic) - and
qui quae quod: who, which, what / quis quid: who? what? which?
tuus -a -um: your
volō velle voluī: wish, be willing