Monday, January 25, 2010

Corvus et Lupi (Trinity)

SOURCE: This poem was composed by the anonymous "Trinity Master" who published a lovely little book in 1852 setting Latin fables in prose side-by-side with his verse compositions; read the book at Google Books. This is poem 19 in the collection. This is not part of the classical Aesopic tradition; if anyone has information about early editions of this fable, let me know! You can find the word list for this fable online at NoDictionaries.com, and use it interactively.

READ OUT LOUD. Choose which marked text you prefer to practice with - macrons in verse form, or macrons in prose order, or accent marks in prose order, or focusing on the meter. You will find materials for all of these options below. :-)


VERSE MACRONS. Here is the verse text with macrons:

Cum turmā comitem Corvō placet īre Lupōrum;
Nempe Lupī praedam per iuga montis agunt.
Praeda tamen capta est; tunc importūnior īnstat
Corpus avis; partem postulat esse suam:
Quippe comes fuerat fīdus. Cuī rettulit ūnus,
"Nec comes es, neque pars carnis, avāre, tua est.
Non sequeris nōsmet: praedamque dapēsque petēbās;
Perfide, nōn volumus verba, sed acta, Lupī.
Sī, tibi tam cārōs, mortī nōs fāta dedissent,
Nonne forent grātō corpora nostra cibō?"


PROSE MACRONS. Here is the same text with macrons written out in prose word order:

Corvō placet cum Lupōrum turmā comitem īre; nempe Lupī praedam per montis iuga agunt. Praeda tamen capta est; tunc avis importūnior corpus īnstat; postulat partem esse suam - quippe comes fīdus fuerat. Cuī Lupus ūnus rettulit: "Avāre, nec comes es, nec pars carnis tua est. Nōsmet nōn sequeris, et praedam et dapēs petēbās. Perfide, nos Lupī non verba volumus, sed acta. Sī fāta nōs, tibi tam cārōs, mortī dedissent, nonne corpora nostra cibō grātō forent?"


STRESS (ACCENT) MARKS. Here is the prose text with accents, plus some color-coding for the words of three or more syllables (blue: penultimate stress; red: antepenultimate stress):

Corvo placet cum Lupórum turma cómitem ire; nempe Lupi praedam per montis iuga agunt. Praeda tamen capta est; tunc avis importúnior corpus instat; póstulat partem esse suam - quippe comes fidus fúerat. Cui Lupus unus réttulit: "Aváre, nec comes es, nec pars carnis tua est. Nosmet non séqueris, et praedam et dapes petébas. Pérfide, nos Lupi non verba vólumus, sed acta. Si fata nos, tibi tam caros, morti dedíssent, nonne córpora nostra cibo grato forent?"


ELEGIAC COUPLET METER. Below I have used an interpunct dot · to indicate the metrical elements in each line, and a double line || to indicate the hemistichs of the pentameter line.

Cum tur·mā comi·tem Cor·vō place·t īre Lu·pōrum;
Nempe Lu·pī prae·dam || per iuga· montis a·gunt.
Praeda ta·men cap·t~ est; tunc· impor·tūnior· īnstat
Corpus a·vis; par·tem || postulat· esse su·am:
Quippe co·mes fue·rat fī·dus. Cuī· rettulit· ūnus,
Nec comes· es, neque· pars || carnis, a·vāre, tu~· est.
Non seque·ris nōs·met: prae·damque da·pēsque pe·tēbās;
Perfide,· nōn volu·mus || verba, sed· acta, Lu·pī.
Sī, tibi· tam cā·rōs, mor·tī nōs· fāta de·dissent,
Nonne fo·rent grā·tō || corpora· nostra ci·bō?


IMAGE. Here's an illustration for the fable (image source) showing a wolf and a crow:


What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches: Corvo placet cum Luporum turma comitem ire; nempe Lupi praedam per montis iuga agunt. Praeda tamen capta est; tunc avis importunior corpus instat; postulat partem esse suam - quippe comes fidus fuerat. Cui Lupus unus rettulit: "Avare, nec comes es, nec pars carnis tua est. Nosmet non sequeris, et praedam et dapes petebas. Perfide, nos Lupi non verba volumus, sed acta. Si fata nos, tibi tam caros, morti dedissent, nonne corpora nostra cibo grato forent?"