Sunday, January 17, 2010

Lupi et Oves (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 12 in the collection. For more versions, see Perry 153.

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:

Inter sē sociant modo foedus Ovēsque Lupīque;
Obsidibusque datīs iungere pacta volunt.
Pignus utrimque datur; stultā grex mente canīnōs
Custōdēs trādunt, hī catulōsque suōs
Ast breve tempus erat, cum iam iēiūna Lupōrum
Prōgeniēs ululat; surgit ad astra sonus.
Prōtinus exclāmant mātrēs, "Sunt foedera fracta!"
Incustōdītōs irruit agmen Ovēs.


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

Ovēsque Lupīque foedus inter sē modo sociant; et, obsidibus datīs, pacta iungere volunt. Pignus utrinque datur; grex, stultā mente, custōdēs canīnōs trādunt, et hī catulōs suōs. Ast tempus breve erat, cum Lupōrum prōgeniēs, iam iēiūna, ululat; sonus ad astra surgit. Prōtinus Luporum mātrēs exclāmant, "Foedera fracta sunt!" Luporum agmen Ovēs incustōdītōs irruit.


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):

Ovésque Lupíque foedus inter se modo sóciant; et, obsídibus datis, pacta iúngere volunt. Pignus utrínque datur; grex, stulta mente, custódes canínos tradunt, et hi cátulos suos. Ast tempus breve erat, cum Lupórum progénies, iam ieiúna, úlulat; sonus ad astra surgit. Prótinus Lupórum matres exclámant, "Foédera fracta sunt!" Lupórum agmen Oves incustodítos írruit.


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.

Inter· sē soci·ant modo· foedus O·vēsque Lu·pīque;
Obsidi·busque da·tīs || iungere· pacta vo·lunt.
Pignus u·trimque da·tur; stul·tā grex· mente ca·nīnōs
Custō·dēs trā·dunt, || hī catu·lōsque su·ōs
Ast breve· tempus e·rat, cum· iam iē·iūna Lu·pōrum
Prōgeni·ēs ulu·lat; || surgit ad· astra so·nus.
Prōtinus· exclā·mant mā·trēs, Sunt· foedera· fracta!
Incus·tōdī·tōs || irruit· agmen O·vēs.


IMAGE. Here's an illustration for the fable (image source) from a Renaissance fable book:


What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches: Ovesque Lupique foedus inter se modo sociant; et, obsidibus datis, pacta iungere volunt. Pignus utrinque datur; grex, stulta mente, custodes caninos tradunt, et hi catulos suos. Ast tempus breve erat, cum Luporum progenies, iam ieiuna, ululat; sonus ad astra surgit. Protinus Luporum matres exclamant, "Foedera fracta sunt!" Luporum agmen Oves incustoditos irruit.