A selection from 'Zoo Poems'.

Ogden Nash (1902-71)

His English, my Latin.
A selection from 'Zoo Poems'.
Some primal TERMITE knocked on wood And tasted it, and found it good, And that is why your cousin May Fell through the parlor floor today. THE COW is of the bovine ilk; One end is moo, the other milk. THE RHINO is a homely beast, For human eyes he’s not a feast. Farewell, farewell, you old rhinoceros, I’ll stare at something less prepocerous. I don’t mind EELS/ Except as meals./ And the way they feels. The POULTRIES Let’s think of eggs./ They have no legs. Chickens come from eggs/ But they have legs. The plot thickens;/ Eggs come from chickens, But have no legs under ’em./What a conundrum! You get some words regarding mice, You get a kitty in a trice. By two a.m. or thereabouts, The mouse is in, the CAT is out. It dawns upon you, in your cot, The mouse is silent, the cat is not. Instead of kitty, says your spouse, You should have got another mouse. The truth I do not stretch or shove When I state that the DOG is full of love. I’ve also found, by actual test, A wet dog is the lovingest. Behold the DUCK. It does not cluck. A cluck it lacks. It quacks. It is specially fond of a puddle or pond. When it dines or sups, It bottoms ups. The OYSTER’s a confusing suitor; It’s masc., and fem., and even neuter. At times it wonders, may what come, Am I husband, wife, or chum. The Lord in His wisdom made the FLY, And then forgot to tell us why. The song of CANARIES Never varies, And when they’re moulting They’re pretty revolting. The CAMEL has a single hump; The dromedary, two; Or else the other way around, I’m never sure. Are you? In the world of MULES There are no rules The PANTHER is like a leopard except that it hasn't been peppered. If you should behold a panther crouch, prepare to say "ouch". Better yet, if called by a panther, don't anther.
IPSE SCRIPSI pristinus est tarmes quia delectabile lignum, nunc tua perrupit Maia propinqua trabem. vacca genusque boum speciemque bovaria fertur; mugit ut ante pecus, pone homo mulget item. rhinoceros, oculis hominum non dulcis, abesto, foede! neque inspiciam postera posta prius. non piget anguillae. nihilominus haec duo juro: non sinere ad mensam, non adhibere manum. ova cano: pede egent. pedem habens avis editur ovis, ova ave. quid? pede egent. o dubia Oedipodis! uxor adest, domus est; mus denique. verba locuta in murem; rapide constat habere catum. nocte domi stat mus; catus errat. inhaeret imago: dum somnis careas, hic canit, ille tacet. ‘stulte! catum fallis damnosum’ ait uxor ‘adeptus : mus instar melius muris emendus erat.’ est canis omnis amans. nec fit violentia vero. hoc ego cognovi: plus canis udus amat. non anas ut gallina crepit; petit illa lacunas. quotquot edunt anates, exposuere nates! ostrea amans dubia est, quia mascula, femina, neutra est : ‘sumne vir, an mulier, sumne sodalis ego?’ musca opus est Domini. cur sit, memorare nequimus: mente Creatoris justificare cadit. non, fringilla, places. nunquam tua carmina mutas; plurima olet toto putrida pluma solo. unus utri tumor an duo sint, ego nescio vere: quotque camelus habet, dic mihi, quotque dromas. DEFICIVNT MVLIS RATIO LEX REGVLA NORMA es pardus, panthera, sed haud maculatur imago! ~ si panthera adhibet membra, ululare para ; murmura pantherae tua parce referre vocanti ; ~ si salit illa, time ; si sonat illa, tace.

Translation: Copyright © Timothy Adès

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I Don’t Know Which Direction the Wind is Blowing

Categories
Latin

I Don’t Know Which Direction the Wind is Blowing

Xu Zhimo (1897-1931)

Latin Version by Timothy Adès
I don’t know Which direction the wind is blowing - I am in a dream, In the dream’s gentle wave lingering. I don’t know Which direction the wind is blowing - I am in a dream, Her tenderness, my fascination. I don’t know Which direction the wind is blowing - I am in a dream, Sweetness is the glory of the dream. I don’t know Which direction the wind is blowing - I am in a dream, Her betrayal, my depression. I don’t know Which direction the wind is blowing - I am in a dream, Heartbroken in the gloom of the dream. I don’t know Which direction the wind is blowing - I am in a dream, Dimness is the glory of the dream.
I Don’t Know Which Direction the Wind is Blowing
nescioquo tendunt venti: vagor incola somni.   undulat ut somnus, lene liquore moror. nescioquo tendunt venti: vagor incola somni.   quippe puella bonast: captor et allicior. nescioquo tendunt venti: vagor incola somni.   dulcedo, somni gloria magna mei! nescioquo tendunt venti: vagor incola somni.   tristitiam tradit falsa puella mihi. nescioquo tendunt venti: vagor incola somni.   in somni tenebris torqueor, excrucior. nescioquo tendunt venti: vagor incola somni.   caligo, somni gloria maesta mei!

Translation: Copyright © Timothy Adès

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The Rebel

The Rebel

Don Marquis (1878-1937)

His English, my Latin
The Rebel
NO DOUBT the ordered worlds speed on With purpose in their wings; No doubt the ordered songs are sweet Each worthy angel sings; And doubtless it is wise to heed The ordered words of Kings; But how the heart leaps up to greet The headlong, rebel flight, Whenas some reckless meteor Blazes across the night! Some comet--Byron--Lucifer-- Has dared to Be, and fight! No doubt but it is safe to dwell Where ordered duties are; No doubt the cherubs earn their wage Who wind each ticking star; No doubt the system is quite right!-- Sane, ordered, regular; But how the rebel fires the soul Who dares the strong gods' ire! Each Byron!--Shelley!--Lucifer!-- And all the outcast choir That chant when some Prometheus Leaps up to steal Jove's fire!
The Rebel
scilicet instructos cantat pius angelus hymnos; ~~scilicet instructa est finis ad orbis iter; scilicet et regum fas iussa instructa tueri; ~~scilicet ut volitant sidera, meta datur. at bene praecipitem gaudemus adesse rebellem, ~~acris uti caeca nocte cometa nitet: ausus qui tranare Tagum subit Hellespontum, ~~ausus item vivo proelia ferre Deo! scilicet incolumes, instructa ubi pensa, manemus ; ~~scilicet angelici munera rite merent, machina queis cura est stimulanda ut sidera currant: ~~scilicet imperio lex bona, firma salus! cordibus at quales fovet ille rebellibus ignes, ~~ausus et irato probra adhibere deo! liberat hic Graecos; comes alter flebilis oras ~~mersus ad Italicas, ceu Palinurus, obit; necnon Lucifer ipse, Promethea quisquis et exsul ~~concelebrat flammam subripuisse Jovi! 
(By a New York poet - hint: Sir Quondam)

Translation: Copyright © Timothy Adès

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Quo sitis ire mihi

Sea Fever

John Masefield (1878-1967)

Sea Fever
I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by; And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking, And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.   I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied; And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.   I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life, To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife; And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover, And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.
Quo sitis ire mihi
quo sitis ire mihi, nihil est nisi pontus et aer. ~~ nave petam celsa sidere fisus aquas! vela tremant, sonet Eurus, agat vis torva gubernum, ~~sit nova pulla dies, acre vapore mare. exagitant clarae surgenti gurgite voces: ~~Tethyos infaustum iussa negare deae! hoc satis est: canis moveantur nubibus aurae, ~~spuma volet ventis, carmine mergus ovet. me, Neptune, iuvant via mergi parsque balaenae, ~~ vita peregrini, saevior Eurus acu. sint mihi sermones hilares comitisque cachinni, ~~et, cum res fuerit, somnia amoena, sopor.
My Latin elegiacs

Translation: Copyright © Timothy Adès

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My Latin version

Adlestrop

Edward Thomas (1878-1917)

Adlestrop
Yes. I remember Adlestrop— The name, because one afternoon Of heat the express-train drew up there Unwontedly. It was late June. The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat. No one left and no one came On the bare platform. What I saw Was Adlestrop—only the name And willows, willow-herb, and grass, And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry, No whit less still and lonely fair Than the high cloudlets in the sky. And for that minute a blackbird sang Close by, and round him, mistier, Farther and farther, all the birds Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.
My Latin version
non mihi mente tuum cadit indelebile nomen, ~~Selda, ubi inassueta compede currus iter sisterat. excelso tempestas torrida sole, ~~deficiens mensis Junius, alta dies. sibilat aere vapor, purgat mala gutture tussis; ~~nullus homo venit limine, nullus abit. solum, Selda, tuum nomen, tu portus amoene, ~~nil aliud visumst! herba humilisque salix et grandes salices, ulmaria pendula filis ~~flos redolens, foeni plurima congeries, arida, sola, nitens, immota ut in aere nubes ~~exiguae; gaudes voce propinqua brevi tu, merula! et procul hinc, ubi iam nebulosior aer, ~~pinnati numerant carmina grata chori, argutae volucrum quot habes, Oxonia, turbae, ~~quot regio Glevi Nervia condit aves.

Translation: Copyright © Timothy Adès

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Asinus - The Donkey - my Latin

The Donkey

G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

The Donkey
When fishes flew and forests walked    And figs grew upon thorn, Some moment when the moon was blood    Then surely I was born. With monstrous head and sickening cry    And ears like errant wings, The devil’s walking parody    On all four-footed things. The tattered outlaw of the earth,    Of ancient crooked will; Starve, scourge, deride me: I am dumb,    I keep my secret still. Fools! For I also had my hour;    One far fierce hour and sweet: There was a shout about my ears,    And palms before my feet.
Asinus - The Donkey - my Latin
errabant sylvae, pecus et squamosa volabat,    fructus erat sento ficus opima vepri, deinde cruentata surrexit imagine luna:    scilicet in tali tempore natus ego. en asini deforme caput, damnosa querela,    auris inassueto devia pinna loco! me gentem Stygia illudens fabricavit Erinys,    quattuor in pedibus quot properamus iter. ille ego, terrarum lacer et miserabilis exsul:    haeret in antiquo mens mea prava modo. verberer, esuriam, illudar: tamen usque tacebo:    quicquid secreto novimus, usque latet. o stulti! mihi enim fuit et mirabilis hora,    una fuit dudum dulcis et acris item: namque resultavit multorum clamor in aures,    et tetigit nostros plurima palma pedes.

Translation: Copyright © Timothy Adès

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My Old Man Said ‘Follow the Van...’

Fred W. Leigh (1871-1924) and Charles Collins (1874-1923)

My Old Man Said ‘Follow the Van...’
‘i, sequere’ inquit erus ‘pantechnicon, impigra cursu.’     plaustrum abiit; veterem constat abisse domum. en sequor, en sequitur passer meus ille canorus,     sed pigra, sed pigro corde soluta vagor, nescio qua. vigili suffecto credere noli!     quae via sit, fallor; fallit adempta domus.
My old man said "Follow the van, And don't dilly dally on the way". Off went the van wiv me 'ome packed in it, I followed on wiv me old cock linnet. But I dillied and dallied, dallied and dillied Lost me way and don't know where to roam. Well you can't trust a special like the old time coppers When you can't find your way 'ome.

Translation: Copyright © Timothy Adès

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Bons Mots

Hilariores Nugae

Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953)

Translated into Latin by Timothy Adès
Hilariores Nugae
When I am dead, I hope it may be said: “His sins were scarlet, but his books were read.” The accursed power which stands on privilege     (and goes with women, champagne and bridge) Broke - and democracy resumed her reign     (which goes with bridge and women and champagne. Good morning, Algernon: Good morning, Percy. Good morning, Mrs Roebeck. Christ have mercy! I'm tired of love; I'm still more tired of rhyme; but money gives me pleasure all the time.
Bons Mots
umbra, rubens peccator, amer modo versificator. perdidit imperium fatale superbior ordo:     tres aderant comites alea, Bacchus, amor. reddita iam plebis florebat Roma tribunis:     tres aderant comites tessera, vina, Venus. salve, Marce. Mari, salve. Curiatia, salve.     o di immortales, parcite supplicibus ! lassat Amor ; plus Musa ; manet iucundius Aurum.

Translation: Copyright © Timothy Adès

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For the Fallen

For the Fallen

Laurence Binyon

For the Fallen
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children, England mourns for her dead across the sea. Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit, Fallen in the cause of the free. Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres. There is music in the midst of desolation And a glory that shines upon our tears. They went with songs to the battle, they were young, Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow. They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted, They fell with their faces to the foe. They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them. They mingle not with their laughing comrades again; They sit no more at familiar tables of home; They have no lot in our labour of the day–time; They sleep beyond England’s foam. But where our desires are and our hopes profound, Felt as a well–spring that is hidden from sight, To the innermost heart of their own land they are known As the stars are known to the Night; As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust, Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain, As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness, To the end, to the end, they remain. Poem by Robert Laurence Binyon (1869–1943), published in The Times newspaper on 21st September 1914.
For the Fallen
mater agit grates et honores Anglia reddit, dum gemit occisos trans maris alta suos. hoc genus, hic genius patriae: male passa tyrannos mater, et his eadem causa suprema fuit. funere ab augusto cantatur in aetheris arces nenia; sollemni tympana voce sonant; audimus medio coelestia carmina luctu, et mira in lacrimis gloria luce nitet. ad pugnam egreditur iuvenum cum cantibus agmen; stat robur membris, lucet in ore fides; intrepidique ultro, veniant si milia contra, hostibus adverso comminus ore cadunt. non illos poterit ceu nos vexare senectus, non anni fessis imposuisse notam. illorum memores cernemus condere solem lumen, item prima luce rubere polum. quos nec ridentes cari comitantur amici, nec iamiam retinent mensa, cubile, domus: nec datur his operis nostri pars ulla diurni, sed procul a patriae litore, grata quies. at qua surgit amor nobis, quibus orta profundis spes similis caecae condita fontis aquae, noverit hos penitusque fovens in pectore condet patria, ceu nocti sidera nota, suos. hi, cum nos erimus pulvis, velut astra nitebunt, quae carpent caeli per loca rite vias; sidera uti splendent, ubi nos premit hora tenebris, perpetua haec durat luce corusca cohors.
An homage to Laurence Binyon and to all those who fell in the Great War and in subsequent wars.

Translation: Copyright © Timothy Adès

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Leda and the Swan

Categories
Latin

Leda and the Swan

W. B. Yeats (1865-1939)

Latin translation by Timothy Adès
A sudden blow: the great wings beating still Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill, He holds her helpless breast upon his breast. How can those terrified vague fingers push The feathered glory from her loosening thighs? And how can body, laid in that white rush, But feel the strange heart beating where it lies? A shudder in the loins engenders there The broken wall, the burning roof and tower And Agamemnon dead.     Being so caught up, So mastered by the brute blood of the air, Did she put on his knowledge with his power Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?
Leda and the Swan
vi subita ignaram ferit ille, alasque tremendis   ictibus en supra, dum labat ipsa, ciet ; collum inhibet rostro, femora et cute mulcet opaca,   et gremium gremio prendit inerme suo. num manus imbellis pinnatum arcere nitorem,   territa num fluido tollere crure potest? labitur incursu niveo; mirabile sentit,   qua iacet, ad costas, cor resonare suas. confractos muros, ustam cum culmine turrim,   et motum ile necem gignit, Atrida, tuam. sic ferus aurarum sanguis superavit amatam,   rostraque sic captae denique laxat iners. num mihi Thestiadae dedit et prognoscere fatum,   quod dederat caeco corpore ferre Tonans?

Translation: Copyright © Timothy Adès

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