Wednesday, November 10, 2010

the poetry of old textbooks

A First Latin Verse Book, circa 1890.



First Exercise

1. Rome was falling.

2. Fire in the city.



Second Exercise

1. Vergilius, the poet, made most-beautiful songs.
2. The beautiful mother comes, the beautiful girl comes.
3. A bird comes, the messenger of light.
4. The horsemen come out of the wood.
5. The horsemen hurry through the waves.
6. The wind carries the swift ships.




Third Exercise

These-things remain to-us.
Buried bones.
The waves of the sea.
Lay-aside tears now.
Let others relate these-things.



Fourth Exercise

The wind carries the swift ships over the waves of the sea.
The husband crosses the ocean: the wife returns to the city.
A year ripens the grapes on the sunny hills;
    A year carries the stars in fixed succession.
The wind carries the swift ships over the waves of the sea.

2 comments:

Sheila said...

Is this from a real textbook or from you?

Very pretty, anyway.

Meredith said...

This is from a real Latin textbook! The English prompts are for Latin verse comp. exercises. I think it was aimed at 13 year-old boys... the exercises are actually not too hard, and I think I would still use this book today. Maybe in an AP Vergil class.