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| Author | Message | | | Posted on Tue Sep 30, 2008 21:03:31 | |
| | Thank you for your page. You did a great job. I read the porms in Moscow with great interest.
Sorry, but the words
quam magnus numerus Libyssae harenae
lasarpiciferis iacet Cyrenis
are translated incorrectly. The text means : “how many flowers grow/lie in the sands of Libya near Cyrene”. The words Libyssae harenae are in the ablative case. My mother tongue is Russian; in Russian we also use the cases and that is why it is more easy to us to understand Latin texts. Our poetry is similar to the Latin poetry, but the English poetry is very different
Yours sincerely
Olga
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| | | Posted at Sat Nov 01, 2008 21:59:39 | Quote |
| | Once more about Carmen 7.
In Carmen 7 Catullus does not count the sands. He compares the kisses of his sweetheart with flowers in a desert. It is a very beautiful comparison.
lasarpicium is a yellow flower whose shape is similar to the shape of the heart. That is why it symbolized love in ancient times. Now it is extinct (because of its medicinal properties, it was a medicinal herb, which was used for preparation of drugs).
As the poet counts only those sands which carry the flowers, he virtually counts the flowers, not the sands!
And these flowers are not just flowers, they are a symbol of love (“love flowers”).
It is a very rich comparison.
The poet does not count the stars as well. He counts secret assignments. That is why the reader understands that his assignment is secret, although the poet does not mention it.
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| | | Posted at Sat Nov 01, 2008 22:02:26 | Quote |
| | Sorry I forgot to sign my previous posting about lasarpicium .
Yours sincerely
Olga (Russia) | |
| | | Posted at Sun Nov 02, 2008 16:18:31 | Quote |
| | In fact it is the shape of the seeds of laserpicium, who have the shape of the heart . So this flower was a symbol of love.
Olga | |
| | | Posted at Wed Dec 24, 2008 16:48:55 | Quote |
| | | Just to put the record straight I'm afraid Libyssae harenae is not in the ablative - the -ae ending can never be the ablative. The ablative ending is a long -a in the singular. lasarpiciferis means silphium producing and agrees with Cyrenis both of which are in the ablative plural. The comparison is with the grains of sand - the flowers are not so vast in number whereas the grains of sand are beyond counting. | |
| | | Posted at Sat May 16, 2009 05:28:46 | Quote |
| | Olga,
Perhaps you should find a new hobby. To be so familiar with cases, you are terrible at identifying them. Not only are you mistaken in this poem, but you also claim that deliciae in poem 2 is genitive when it is evidently vocative. I suggest that you go back to Latin I and come back when you know its cases, because they are apparently different from Russian.
Very Sincerely,
An Englishman Who Doesn't Use Cases in His Mother Language | |
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