Latin Alive!

In a recent post titled Texan Eclogues I reminisced over my first poetry composition assignment, one that involved the imitation of a distinctly classical poetic style. By that I mean involving the meters and literary style of those poets from the Golden Age of Latin Literature. In that assignment I asked my students to imitate Vergil’s pastoral poems. In this assignment we put a modern twist on classical style. I have been given the sweet appellation of Mother Moo by my Latin students. It is a title I treasure for many of these students I have known since their grammar school days. They have been my students and my daughter’s friends for many years. So as is not uncommon with teachers, they become “my kids” and I become a bit of a mother hen, or rather a mother goose. During the course of the year they asked me if they could compose a little book of Mother Moo’s Nursery Rhymes (reminiscent of Mother Goose).  While Latin poetry doesn’t exactly rhyme, I loved the idea. So with great delight I am able to present in this blog post the first edition of Mother Moo’s Nursery Poems.

Before you enjoy the poems, however, here are the parameters of the assignment:

1. Poem must be a minimum of 4 lines long.
2. Standard spelling and grammar rules apply (always).
3. Poem must be composed in one of three Latin meters:
   • dactylic hexameter
   • elegiac couplet
   • hendecasyllabic
4. Each poem is allowed 1 example of hiatus without penalty (the deliberate avoidance of an elision).
5. Poem must include at least one rhetorical device (hiatus is not included).
6. Poem must be based on a classic nursery rhyme such as those found in the canon of Mother Goose.

Poetry Preparation:

1. The poetry composition assignment is given at the end of a semester on poetry study. Students have by this time read numerous Latin poems, both Classical and Medieval, using the meters listed above.
2. Students have also learned how to scan all three metrical styles.
3. Students have by this time been studying rhetorical devices in both their English Literature and Latin Literature classes. They are well versed in the most common devices. For an excellent list with copious examples visit University of Kentucky Glossary of Rhetorical Terms.
4. For this project I place the students in pairs and together they select a short nursery rhyme.  The project takes approximately one week.

After reviewing all of the above it is important to remind the students that we are not translating so much as interpreting a classic English poem into a classical Latin poetic form. We cannot do that with a literal translation style. Instead, we ought to focus on transferring meaning from one art form into another. That means we have to break a few perceived rules (such as rhyme) in order to achieve our creation. Or in the case of Humpta Dumpta, we break a few eggs. The result is delightful. The students begin with a great excitement to engage with childhood nostalgia. Excitement becomes a frustrated determination as they encounter the difficulties presented in ancient meter. Determination through these difficulties gives way to triumph as their work takes shape. At last, when their little poems are finally complete, they gain a real sense of awe as they gain a deeper appreciation for the skill of poets such as Vergil and Ovid who wrote entire epics in this beautiful art form. They are very proud of their little poems, and so is Mother Moo.

I. Parva Stella (hendecasyllabic)

Parva stella mica, mica supra me

Nescit mens meus ipse cuius heu fis

Supra terram et ultra mollem album

non diversus abiecta gemma caelo

Parva stella mica mica supra me

Nescit mens meus ipse cuius heu fis

Translation

Twinkle, twinkle little star above me

Alas my mind itself does not know of what you are

Above the earth and beyond the fluffy white

not unlike a gem thrown in the sky

Twinkle twinkle little star above me

Alas my mind itself does not know of what you are

* * * * *

II. Cimex Parvissima (dactylic hexameter)

Presterem cimex grandem parvissima scandit

Imber aesuper interdum abluet evenit cimex

Sol exit, pluviam interdum restinquet totam

Presterem cimex rursus parvissima scandit.

Translation

The smallest bug climbs the bit waterspout

The rain comes forth from above and then washed out the bug

The sun comes out, meanwhile it quenches all the rain

The smallest bug climbs the waterspout again.

* * * * *

III. Humpta Dumpta (hendecasyllabic)

Humpta Dumpta sedet vertice muri

Humpta Dumpta cadit vertice muri

Toti huius equi virique regis

Humptam ponere possunt una rursus

Translation

Humpty Dumpty sits on top of the wall

Humpty Dumpty falls from the top of the wall

All of the king’s horses and men

are not able to put Humpty as one again

For additional posts on Latin poetry visit:

Texan Eclogues

Latin Haiku

Nearly a decade ago I issued my first poetry composition assignment. This assignment was to reflect the culmination of Latin poetry studied that year. We had looked at poems short and long by the poets from the Golden Age of Latin Literature: Horace, Vergil, Catullus, and Ovid. Among these works we read a couple of Vergil’s Eclogues, beautiful pastoral poems that pre-date his magnum opus, Aeneid. We used Vergil’s pastoral style to inspire our own bucolics on the fields of Texas.  Over the years I have found no better way of instilling a deep appreciation for both the beauty and labor of Latin poetry than through a bit of imitation in writing. The assignment can, however, be a bit overwhelming. After all, I am asking my students to imitate the most “epic” of poets. The assignment was 5-10 lines of dactylic hexameter on a pastoral theme. Students were to be mindful of elisions and incorporate at least one rhetorical device.* I titled the collection Texan Eclogues since these eclogues were composed by young Texans.  This collection can be found in the first edition of The Vates Anthology of New Latin Poetry. I encourage readers to take a look at Vates where you will find a new age of Latin poets carrying on the craft and the tradition begun in that once Golden Age of Latin Literature.

I

upilio in pratum pulcherrimum agens gregem omnem.
laetificum carmen affirmanti uoce cantat:
‘o mi lanigeri amici cessate libenter
tempestiuo mane quod largiuntur gaudete
liberali di. dissoluunt hiemem radio auri
ueremque spargiunt ad agros artusque trementes.
Ver uerrit patulis pennis alarum auium horum.’

Translation:
A shepherd leading his whole flock into a most beautiful
meadow, sings a joyful song with reassuring voice:
‘O my fleecy companions linger freely. Rejoice in
the ripe morning which the generous gods bestow.
They melt the winter with ray of gold and
spread the spring to trembling fields and bodies.
Spring sweeps with the outspread feathers of the wings of these birds.’

* * *

II
dic musa, spumo de Oceano Apollo quo
aethere transcenso ut aquae se submergit currus
bullent. dic insulam rauam luxuriosam.
Nymphae currunt saltant saxa et herbam in ora.
est hoc asylum et regia uxoris Hectoris feri.

Translation:
Speak muse, concerning frothy Oceanus in which Apollo, after
The ether had been crossed, submerges his chariot, so that the waters
bubble themselves. Speak of a lush grey island.
Nymphs run over the rocks and grass, they dance on the shore.
This is the sanctuary and palace of the wife of fierce Hector.

* * *

III
nunc in caelo clar’ Aurora celeriter surgit.
aduocat iter in agrem rediret muner’ agere.
ingens pello canis prope me ad pascula currit,
ualde pecumque salutamus, illos congregarimus.
hos potantes aquam placid’ obseruo otiantes.

Translation:
Now Aurora rises quickly into the clear skies.
She calls again to return into the field and to do [my] duties.
My huge dog with his pelt runs alongside me to the pastures,
And we greet the herd immensely; we herd them.
I watch these, relaxing, drinking the water peacefully.

* * *

IV
papilliones pulchras fructices bacas circum uolant.
siluam per incendo pluit atque et caelum cantat.
de caelo imber re faciens cadit musicam
incurrit. incurrit in uirides arbores fragilesque
flores. spissus poculum imber Proserpinum fundet.

Translation:
The beautiful butterflies fly around the berry bush.
I am walking through the forest and it rains and the sky sings.
Rain falls from the sky making music with the objects it strikes.
It strikes against green trees and soft flowers.
The heavy rain fills the cup of Proserpina.

*Readers, please kindly consider that these are novice poets. Their work is very good, but not perfect. Do not allow the rare metrical error to take away from the craft.

For more on Latin poetry composition visit the post Latin Haiku.