Sunday, July 22, 2012

Similis Sui

This is one of the emblems of Joachim Camerarius, 2.90. The poem urges us not to be like the ever-changing chameleon that we see in the emblematic image!

Similis Sui
Turpis adulator formas se vertit in omnes,
At verax similis mens manet usque sui.


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:

adūlātor (adūlātōris, m.): flatterer
vērax (vērācis): true, truthful

at: but, but yet
fōrma -ae f.: shape; beauty
in: in, on (+ abl.); into, onto (+ acc)
maneō manēre mānsī mānsum: remain
mēns mentis f.: mind
omnis -e: all, every, as a whole
similis -e: like, similar
sui, sibi, sē: him- her- itself
turpis -e: ugly, unsightly; disgraceful
ūsque: up to; continuously
vertō vertere vertī versum: turn