Friday, February 5, 2010

Lupus et Hominis Caput (Walter)

SOURCE: The text is online as the "Anonymus Neveleti" at the Latin Library, and the text is sometimes attributed to Walter of England. This is poem 34 in the collection. For parallel versions, see Perry 27; in most versions it is told instead about a fox - but here we have a wolf.

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:

Dum legit arva lupus, reperit caput arte superbum.
Hoc beat hūmānīs ars pretiōsa genīs.
Hoc lupus alternō voluit pede, verba resolvit:
"Ō sine vōce genās, ō sine mente caput!"
Fuscat et extinguit cordis cālīgo nitōrem
Corporis; est animī sōlus in orbe nitor."


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

Dum lupus arva legit, caput reperit, arte superbum. Ars pretiōsa hoc hūmānīs genīs beat. Lupus hoc pede alternō voluit, verba resolvit: "Ō sine vōce genās, ō sine mente caput!" corporis cālīgo nitōrem cordis fuscat et extinguit; animī nitor sōlus est in orbe."


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):

Dum lupus arva legit, caput réperit, arte supérbum. Ars pretiósa hoc humánis genis beat. Lupus hoc pede altérno vóluit, verba resólvit: "O sine voce genas, o sine mente caput!" Córporis calígo nitórem cordis fuscat et extínguit; ánimi nitor solus est in orbe."


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.

Dum legit· arva lu·pus, repe·rit caput· arte su·perbum.
Hoc bea·t hūmā·nīs || ars preti·ōsa ge·nīs.
Hoc lupus· alter·nō volu·it pede,· verba re·solvit:
"Ō sine· vōce ge·nās, || ō sine· mente ca·put!"
Fuscat et· extin·guit cor·dis cā·līgo ni·tōrem
Corporis;· est ani·mī || sōlus i·n orbe ni·tor."


IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source), showing not just a human head - but the figure of an entire body - markedly female!


Here is an illustration from the Medici Aesop, which is online at the New York Public Library website.



What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches: Dum lupus arva legit, caput reperit, arte superbum. Ars pretiosa hoc humanis genis beat. Lupus hoc pede alterno voluit, verba resolvit: "O sine voce genas, o sine mente caput!" corporis caligo nitorem cordis fuscat et extinguit; animi nitor solus est in orbe."