Friday, June 17, 2005
A poem by Martial:
hanc tibi fronto pater genetrix flacilla puellam
oscula commendo deliciasque meas
parvula ne nigras horrescat erotion umbras
oraque tartarei prodigiosa canis
impletum fuit sextae modo frigora brumae
vixisset totidem ni minus illa dies
inter iam veterus ludat lasciva patronos
et nomen blaeso garriat ore meum
mollia non rigidus caespes tegat ossa nec illi
terra gravis fueris non fuit illa tibi
This girl, my pet and my darling,
I commend to you, father (Frontus), mother (Flacilla),
Lest wee little Erotion shudders at the black shadows
And the monstrous mouths of the dog of Tartarus.
She was about to complete the colds of only a sixth midwinter,
If she had not lived as many days too few.
Now let she, playful, play among the old protectors,
Let no hard turf cover her soft bones, not for that one,
You will not have been a heavy ground: she was not that to you.
The final line translates awkwardly; Martial probably trusts some material to inference. I interpret "she was not that to you" as some indication of the lack of meaning in her death to Martial's parents, who apparently had not known her well. Murkiness surrounds the meaning of "you will not have been a heavy ground", as well, but I suspect it reflects, perhaps, Martial's desire that his parents participate more directly in Erotion's development (he calls them her "patrons"). Sharada mentioned she found no translation on the Internet, and she had not had time to scurry to the library before class to solidify the translation.
Yesterday I translated a passage detailing the murder of a man by his slaves. The most important information I gleaned: verenda contundit means "[one of the slaves] crushes [the master's] private parts".
Ich liebe Latein.
[Lauree Frances Keith concluded this diatribe at 11:54 AM]