Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Ovis, Capra, Iuvenca et Leo (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 6 in the collection. For parallel versions, see Perry 339.

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:

Ut ratiōne parī fortūnae mūnera sūmant,
Sūmunt foedus ovis capra iuvenca leo.
Cervus adest; cervum rapiunt; leo sīc ait: Hēres
Prīmae partis erō, nam mihi prīmus honor,
Et mihi dēfendit partem vīs prīma secundam,
Et mihi dat māior tertia iūra labor.
Et pars quarta meum, nisi sit mea, rumpit amōrem.
Publica sōlus habet fortior, īma premēns.
Nē fortem societ fragilis, vult fābula praesēns.
Nam fragilī fīdus nesciet esse potēns.


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

Ovis capra iuvenca leo foedus sūmunt ut mūnera sūmant, ratiōne fortūnae parī. Cervus adest; cervum rapiunt; leo sīc ait: Hēres partis prīmae erō, nam honor prīmus mihi, et vīs prīma secundam partem mihi dēfendit, et labor māior iūra tertia mihi dat. Et pars quarta, nisi mea sit, meum amōrem rumpit. Fortior sōlus publica habet, īma premēns. Fābula praesēns vult nē fragilis fortem societ, nam potēns nesciet fīdus fragilī esse.


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):

Ovis capra iuvénca leo foedus sumunt ut múnera sumant, ratióne fortúnae pari. Cervus adest; cervum rápiunt; leo sic ait: Heres partis primae ero, nam honor primus mihi, et vis prima secúndam partem mihi deféndit, et labor maior iura tértia mihi dat. Et pars quarta, nisi mea sit, meum amórem rumpit. Fórtior solus pública habet, ima premens. Fábula praesens vult ne frágilis fortem sóciet, nam potens nésciet fidus frágili esse.


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.

Ut rati·ōne pa·rī for·tūnae· mūnera· sūmant,
Sūmunt· foedus o·vis || capra iu·venca le·o.
Cervus a·dest; cer·vum rapi·unt; leo· sīc ait:· Hēres
Prīmae· partis e·rō, || nam mihi· prīmus ho·nor,
Et mih·i dēfen·dit par·tem vīs· prīma se·cundam,
Et mihi· dat mā·ior || tertia· iūra la·bor.
Et pars· quarta me·um, nisi· sit mea·, rumpit a·mōrem.
Publica· sōlus ha·bet || fortior,· īma pre·mēns.
Nē for·tem soci·et fragi·lis, vult· fābula· praesēns.
Nam fragi·lī fī·dus || nesciet· esse po·tēns.


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


What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches:
Ovis capra iuvenca leo foedus sumunt ut munera sumant, ratione fortunae pari. Cervus adest; cervum rapiunt; leo sic ait: Heres partis primae ero, nam honor primus mihi, et vis prima secundam partem mihi defendit, et labor maior iura tertia mihi dat. Et pars quarta, nisi mea sit, meum amorem rumpit. Fortior solus publica habet, ima premens. Fabula praesens vult ne fragilis fortem societ, nam potens nesciet fidus fragili esse.