|
''Carmen Possum'' is a popular 80-line macaronic poem written in a mix of Latin and English. Its author is unknown, but the poem's theme and language enable one to surmise that he or she was from the United States of America and was either a teacher or at least a student of Latin. The poem's title represents a multilingual play on words: ''Possum'' is Latin for "I can"/"I am able to" and colloquial English for "opossum." While ''carmen possum'' sounds like a well-formed Latin phrase to untrained ears, its meaning in context reveals that at least this instance of it is not: On one hand, the only even arguably correct Latin construction translates as "I am capable of song" (with "of" here constituting not a stand-alone preposition but rather a portion of an English phrasal verb), satisfying (if only barely) the requirements of syntax at the expense of replacing the title's clearly intended semantic content with a clearly unintended counterpart. On the other, the fact that a proper translation of "Song of () Opossum" into Latin would involve a non-nominative, usually genitive, construction (()''possi'' rather than ()''possum'') shows that one cannot read the title as having the semantic content clearly intended by its author without also disregarding syntactic rules' constraints on the title's permissible meanings or at least presuming the title's author to have violated those rules when writing it. The poem can be used as a pedagogical device for elementary Latin teaching. The language mix includes vocabulary, morphology (''turnus'') and grammar (''trunkum longum''). ''Carmen Possum'' is also an unpublished musical piece by Normand Lockwood.〔University of Colorado at Boulder, ''Guide to the Normand Lockwood Collection, 1921-1996'', Subseries C: Miscellaneous Music by Normand Lockwood, Box No. 5. (Online version ) accessed on 2009-06-25.〕 == The poem == :THE NOX was lit by lux of Luna, :And 'twas a nox most opportuna :To catch a possum or a coona; :For nix was scattered o'er this mundus, :A shallow nix, et non profundus. :On sic a nox with canis unus, :Two boys went out to hunt for coonus. :The corpus of this bonus canis :Was full as long as octo span is, :But brevior legs had canis never :Quam had hic dog; et bonus clever. :Some used to say, in stultum jocum :Quod a field was too small locum :For sic a dog to make a turnus :Circum self from stem to sternus. :Unus canis, duo puer, :Nunquam braver, nunquam truer, :Quam hoc trio nunquam fuit, :If there was I never knew it. :This bonus dog had one bad habit, :Amabat much to tree a rabbit, :Amabat plus to chase a rattus, :Amabat bene tree a cattus. :But on this nixy moonlight night :This old canis did just right. :Nunquam treed a starving rattus, :Nunquam chased a starving cattus, :But sucurrit on, intentus :On the track and on the scentus, :Till he trees a possum strongum, :In a hollow trunkum longum. :Loud he barked in horrid bellum, :Seemed on terra vehit pellum. :Quickly ran the duo puer :Mors of possum to secure. :Quam venerit, one began :To chop away like quisque man. :Soon the axe went through the truncum :Soon he hit it all kerchunkum; :Combat deepens, on ye braves! :Canis, pueri et staves :As his powers non longius carry, :Possum potest non pugnare. :On the nix his corpus lieth. :Down to Hades spirit flieth, :Joyful pueri, canis bonus, :Think him dead as any stonus. :Now they seek their pater's domo, :Feeling proud as any homo, :Knowing, certe, they will blossom :Into heroes, when with possum :They arrive, narrabunt story, :Plenus blood et plenior glory. :Pompey, David, Samson, Caesar, :Cyrus, Black Hawk, Shalmanezer! :Tell me where est now the gloria, :Where the honors of victoria? :Nunc a domum narrent story, :Plenus sanguine, tragic, gory. :Pater praiseth, likewise mater, :Wonders greatly younger frater. :Possum leave they on the mundus, :Go themselves to sleep profundus, :Somniunt possums slain in battle, :Strong as ursae, large as cattle. :When nox gives way to lux of morning, :Albam terram much adorning, :Up they jump to see the varmin, :Of the which this is the carmen. :Lo! possum est resurrectum! :Ecce pueri dejectum, :Ne relinquit back behind him, :Et the pueri never find him. :Cruel possum! bestia vilest, :How the pueros thou beguilest! :Pueri think non plus of Caesar, :Go ad Orcum, Shalmanezer, :Take your laurels, cum the honor, :Since ista possum is a goner! 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Carmen Possum」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|