Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Nummis Frui

Here is another distich by John Owen, with an English translation by Thomas Harvey, 10.88:

Nummis Frui
Magna quidem virtus nummis est posse potiri;
Scire uti maior, maxima velle frui.

’Tis vertue great, of Gold to get tuition;
Its good use greater, greater its fruition.

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

nummus (nummī, m.): coin, cash, money
potior, potīrī: get possession of, become master of

fruor fruī frūctus sum: enjoy
māgnus -a -um great
māior -ius: greater, older; maiōres -um: ancestors
māximus -a -um: greatest; māximē: most, especially, very much
possum posse potuī: be able
quidem: certainly, at least
sciō -īre -īvī/-iī -ītum: know
sum, esse, fuī: be, exist
ūtor ūtī ūsus sum: use
virtūs -ūtis f.: valor, manliness, virtue
volō velle voluī: wish, be willing