Sunday, April 10, 2011

Corpus Infirmum

This little poem comes from Disticha de Educatione of Urbano Appendini, published in 1834; you can see the whole book at Google Books.

Corpus Infirmum
Quid res ampla iuvat, quid mens exculta, quid aevum
Longius, infirmum si tibi corpus erit?

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:

excultus, -a, -um: cultivated, perfected
infirmus , -a, -um: not strong, weak, feeble

aevum -i n.: eternity; lifetime, age
amplus -a -um: large, spacious
corpus corporis n.: body
iuvō iuvāre iūvī iūtum: help, assist; please, delight
longus -a -um: long, far; longē: far, far off
mēns mentis f.: mind
qui quae quod: who, which, what / quis quid: who? what? which?
rēs reī f.: thing (rēs pūblica, commonwealth; rēs familiāris, family property, estate; rēs mīlitāris, art of war; rēs novae, revolution)
sī: if
sum, esse, fuī: be, exist
tū tuī tibi tē: you (sing.)