Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Philautia

Here is another distich by John Owen, with an English translation by Thomas Harvey, 3.079. The title is a Greek word, philautia, "self-love."

Philautia
Crimina qui cernunt aliorum, nec sua cernunt,
Hi sapiunt aliis, desipiuntque sibi.

SELF-LOVE
Who sees not his own faults, but others spies,
Is wise unt’ others, but t’ himself unwise.


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, plus the Greek word in the title:

dēsipio -ere, dēsipuī - be foolish, act stupidly
philautia - self-love (Greek: φιλαυτία)

alius -a -um: other, another
cerno cernere crēvī crētum: discern, separate
crīmen -inis n.: verdict, accusation
hic, haec, hoc: this; hōc, on this account
neque, nec: and not, nor; neque . . . neque, neither . . . nor
qui, quae, quod: who, which, what; quis quid: who? what? which?
sapio sapere sapīvī: be wise
sui, sibi, sē: him- her- itself
suus -a -um: his own, her own, its own