Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Alter Alterius Onera Portate

This poem is from a book published in 1624 by Jean Pignewart (Iohannes Pignevvart), a Cistercian monk and scholar. He attributes his collection of distich poetry to "Cato Bernardinus," invoking both the legendary "Cato" of Latin distich fame and also Saint Bernard of Clairveax who was famously associated with the Cistercian order.

Alter Alterius Onera Portate
Cum nemo vitii vivat vel criminis expers,
Alterius merito sufferat alter onus.

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

expers (expertis): having no part in, free from
sufferō, sufferre: carry, support, endure

alter altera alterum: other of two
crīmen -inis n.: verdict, accusation
cum: with (prep. + abl.); when, since, although (conjunction + subj.)
mereō merēre meruī meritum: deserve, merit; serve as a soldier
nēmo: no one (gen. nullius, dat. nulli, abl. nullo or nulla > nullus -a -um)
onus oneris n.: load, burden
portō -āre: carry a load
vel: or else, or; even; vel . . . vel: either… or
vitium -ī n.: flaw, fault, crime
vīvō vīvere vīxī victum: live