Amo, Amas
by John O'Keefe
by John O'Keefe
Amo, Amas, I love a lass
As a cedar tall and slender;
Sweet cowslip's grace is her nominative case,
And she's of the feminine gender.
Rorum, Corum, sunt divorum,
Harum, Scarum divo;
Tag-rag, merry-derry, periwig and hat-band
Hic hoc horum genitivo.
Can I decline a Nymph divine?
Her voice as a flute is dulcis.
Her oculus bright, her manus white,
And soft, when I tacto, her pulse is.
Rorum, Corum, sunt divorum,
Harum, Scarum divo;
Tag-rag, merry-derry, periwig and hat-band
Hic hoc horum genitivo.
Oh, how bella my puella,
I'll kiss secula seculorum.
If I've luck, sir, she's my uxor,
O dies benedictorum.
Rorum, Corum, sunt divorum,
Harum, Scarum divo;
Tag-rag, merry-derry, periwig and hat-band
Hic hoc horum genitivo.
And since tempus is fugiting, it's time to go.
Have a good day. It's Friday, after all.
More thoughts tomorrow...be here for Cartoon Saturday
Bilbo
P.S. - by the way, I actually am a cunning ... uh ... never mind.
B.
Will you translate the latin in the poem?
ReplyDelete@anon - I was going to ask the same thing but thought better of it. That could turn into 8 or 9 posts.
ReplyDeleteIf we all spoke Latin now, would pop songs be like this?
ReplyDeleteMike and Anonymous:
ReplyDelete1. I think the refrain is nonsense (although the words sunt divorum could be translated "of the gods", and the rest of the words are Latin, but not always used grammatically...
2. Her voice as a flute is dulcis (sweet).
3. Her oculus (eye) bright, her manus (hand) white.
4. And soft, when I tacto (touch) her pulse is.
5. How bella (beautiful) my puella (girl)
6. I'll kiss secula seculorum (forever and ever)
7. ...she's my uxor (wife)
8. O dies benedictorum (oh blessed day).