Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Vipera et Lima (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 51 in the collection. For parallel versions, see Perry 93.

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 (note the short o in plano, seco, molo, rideo - a feature common in medieval Latin verse):

Vīpera fabrīlem dapis anxia tendit in aedem,
Incipit haec līmam rōdere, līma loquī:
Nescis posse meum, quae sit mea glōria nescis.
Dente meō pateris, nōn ego dente tuō.
In tenuem ferrum fortī molo dente farīnam,
Et cadit attrītū dūra farīna meō.
Ferrea parcentī castīgō tūbera morsū,
Aspera plāno, seco ligna foranda forō.
Dēlīrās igitur, cum dente mināris inermī.
Rīdeo, quod ferior; vulnera ferre gemis.
Fortem fortis amet, nam fortem fortior angit.
Māiōrī timeat obvius īre minor.


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

Vīpera dapis anxia in aedem fabrīlem tendit. Haec līmam rōdere incipit; līma loquī: Nescis posse meum; nescis quae glōria mea sit. Dente meō pateris, nōn ego dente tuō. Dente fortī ferrum molō in farīnam tenuem, et farīna dūra attrītū meō cadit. Ferrea tūbera castīgō morsū parcentī, aspera plānō, ligna forō foranda secō. Dēlīrās igitur, cum dente inermī mināris. Rīdeo, quod ferior; vulnera ferre gemis. Fortis fortem amet, nam fortior fortem angit. Minor timeat māiōrī obvius īre.


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):

Vípera dapis ánxia in aedem fabrílem tendit. Haec limam ródere íncipit; lima loqui: Nescis posse meum; nescis quae glória mea sit. Dente meo páteris, non ego dente tuo. Dente forti ferrum molo in farínam ténuem, et farína dura attrítu meo cadit. Férrea túbera castígo morsu parcénti, áspera plano, ligna foro foránda seco. Delíras ígitur, cum dente inérmi mináris. Rídeo, quod férior; vúlnera ferre gemis. Fortis fortem amet, nam fórtior fortem angit. Minor tímeat maióri óbvius ire.


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.

Vīpera· fabrī·lem dapis· anxia· tendit in· aedem,
Incipit· haec lī·mam || rōdere,· līma lo·quī:
Nescis· posse me·um, quae· sit mea· glōria· nescis.
Dente me·ō pate·ris, || nōn ego· dente tu·ō.
In tenu·em fer·rum for·tī molo· dente fa·rīnam,
Et cadit· attrī·tū || dūra fa·rīna me·ō.
Ferrea· parcen·tī cas·tīgō· tūbera· morsū,
Aspera· plāno, se·co || ligna fo·randa fo·rō.
Dēlī·rās igi·tur, cum· dente mi·nāris in·ermī.
Rīdeo,· quod feri·or; || vulnera· ferre ge·mis.
Fortem· fortis a·met, nam· fortem· fortior· angit.
Māiō·rī time·at || obvius· īre mi·nor.


IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source).


What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches:
Vipera dapis anxia in aedem fabrilem tendit. Haec limam rodere incipit; lima loqui: Nescis posse meum; nescis quae gloria mea sit. Dente meo pateris, non ego dente tuo. Dente forti ferrum molo in farinam tenuem, et farina dura attritu meo cadit. Ferrea tubera castigo morsu parcenti, aspera plano, ligna foro foranda seco. Deliras igitur, cum dente inermi minaris. Rideo, quod ferior; vulnera ferre gemis. Fortis fortem amet, nam fortior fortem angit. Minor timeat maiori obvius ire.