Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Omnia Appetunt Bonum

Here is today's distich by John Owen, with an English translation by Thomas Harvey, 2.44.

Omnia Appetunt Bonum
Fallor, an a verbo nomen trahit optimus opto?
Optat enim sapiens optima quisque sibi.


ALL THINGS AFFECT GOOD
From Opto’ s’Optimus, without contest,
For that’s wise doth wish himself the best.

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

appeto -ere, appetīvī, appetītum - seek, strive for, desire
opto -āre - wish for, desire, choose

ā, ab, abs: from, by (+abl.)
an: or
bonus -a -um: good
enim: for, indeed
fallo fallere fefellī falsum: deceive
nōmen -inis n.: name
omnis -e: all, every, as a whole
optimus -a -um: best, excellent; adv. optimē
quis-, quae-, quidque: each one, everyone
sapiens -ntis: wise, sensible
sui, sibi, sē: him- her- itself
traho -ere trāxī trāctum: drag, draw
verbum -ī n.: word