Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Vespertilio (Alciato)

SOURCE: The emblems of Alciato, with a convenient bilingual presentation online at Memorial University, and a marvelous collection of illustrated editions at Glasgow. This is emblem 62 in the collection. This analysis of the various meanings of the bat overlaps with Perry 566.

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 (the first syllable of philosophos is long, following the Greek pronunciation):

Vespere quae tantum volitat, quae lūmine lusca est,
Quae cum ālās gestet, cētera mūris habet;
Ad rēs dīversās trahitur. Mala nōmina prīmum
Signat, quae latitant, iūdiciumque timent.
Inde et Phīlosophos, quī dum caelestia quaerunt,
Cālīgant oculīs, falsaque sōla vident.
Tandem et versūtōs, cum clam sectentur utrumque
Acquīrunt neutrā quī sibi parte fidem.


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

Quae tantum vespere volitat, quae lūmine lusca est, quae, cum ālās gestet, mūris cētera habet, ad rēs dīversās trahitur. Prīmum mala nōmina signat, quae latitant, et iūdicium timent. Inde et Phīlosophos, quī, dum caelestia quaerunt, oculīs cālīgant, et falsa sōla vident. Tandem et versūtōs, qui, cum clam utrumque sectentur, neutrā parte fidem quī acquīrunt.


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):

Quae tantum véspere vólitat, quae lúmine lusca est, quae, cum alas gestet, muris cétera habet, ad res divérsas tráhitur. Primum mala nómina signat, quae látitant, et iudícium timent. Inde et philósophos, qui, dum caeléstia quaerunt, óculis calígant, et falsa sola vident. Tandem et versútos, qui, cum clam utrúmque secténtur, neutra parte fidem sibi acquírunt.


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.

Vespere quae tantum volitat, quae lūmine lusca est,
Quae c~ ā·lās ges·tet, || cētera· mūris ha·bet;
Ad rēs dīversās trahitur. Mala nōmina prīmum
Signat,· quae lati·tant, || iūdici·umque ti·ment.
Inde et Phīlosophos, quī dum caelestia quaerunt,
Cālī·gant ocu·līs, || falsaque· sōla vi·dent.
Tandem et versūtōs, cum clam sectentur utrumque
Acquī·runt neu·trā || quī sibi· parte fi·dem.


IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source).


What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches:
Quae tantum vespere volitat, quae lumine lusca est, quae, cum alas gestet, muris cetera habet, ad res diversas trahitur. Primum mala nomina signat, quae latitant, et iudicium timent. Inde et Philosophos, qui, dum caelestia quaerunt, oculis caligant, et falsa sola vident. Tandem et versutos, qui, cum clam utrumque sectentur, neutra parte fidem qui acquirunt.