Wednesday, July 27, 2011

In Lividum

This is a poem by John Dunbar (c. 1585 - 1626), a Scottish neo-Latin poet. You can read more about Dunbar at Dana Sutton's online edition of Dunbar's epigrammatic poetry.

In Lividum
Livide, non miror quod tu mea carmina carpas:
Carmina nulla facis, carmina nulla probas.

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

carpō, carpere: pick, pluck, criticize
līvidus, -a, -um: black-and-blue, livid, spiteful

carmen -inis n.: song
faciō facere fēcī factum: do, make
in: in, on (+ abl.); into, onto (+ acc)
meus -a -um: my
mīror mīrārī mīrātus sum: wonder at, marvel at (+ acc.)
nōn: not
nūllus -a -um: not any, no one
probō -āre: approve, prove; convince one (dat.) of a thing (acc.)
qui quae quod: who, which, what / quis quid: who? what? which?
tū tuī tibi tē: you (sing.)