25.03.25; Vincent: rejoicing in Spring

Salvēte │ Hello

Vēr iam adest │ Spring is already here.

Gaudeāmus igitur │ Therefore, let us rejoice.

Hodiē sōl lūcet │ The sun is shining today.

Avēs volant in caelō et canunt │ The birds are flying in the sky and singing.

Aliae bēstiolae vigent │ Other little creatures are thriving / flourishing.

Flōrēs crēscunt │ The flowers are growing.

Ergō scrīpsī novōs versūs │ Therefore, I have written new verses

Laudāns vēr │ While praising the spring.

Pepigī distichon │ I’ve composed a couplet (two-line verse)

Dē hōc tempore annī │ About this season

Quod mihi valdē placet │ Which I really like (which is really pleasing to me).

Ecce │ Here it is

Adsunt nunc flōrēs vernālēs suāveolentēs │ The sweet-smelling spring blooms are now here

Bēstiolae gaudent, frīgora nunc aberunt │ The little creatures rejoice, the cold will now be away / gone

Valēte │ Good-bye

The fragrant vernal flowers now are here

The cold will go and little beasts will cheer

Vocabulary

alius, -a, -ud: other

bēstiōla, -ae [1/f]: little beast / creature; -ol- creates a diminutive (smaller version) of bēstia, -ae [1/f]: beast

frīgus, frigoris [3/n]: cold; coldness; often appears in the plural even though we would translate it as singular

distichon, distichī [3/n]: couplet; two-line verse; distichon; a Greek-type noun hence the /n/ in the nominative: distichon

pangō, -ere, pepigī [3]: compose (usually in verse, but also in song)

tempus, temporis [3/n] annī: (literally) time of the year = season

vēr, -is [3/n]: spring

vērnālis, -e: spring (adjective); flōrēs vērnālēs: spring flowers

versus, -ūs [4/m]: verse

vigeō, -ēre, viguī [2]: be vigorous; thrive; flourish

Notes

[i] Vēr iam adest │ Spring is already here; adsunt … flōrēs │ the flowers are here

frīgora nunc aberunt │ the cold(s) will now be away / distant / gone

The verb sum; esse (be) with prefixes:

adsum, adesse: be here / present

absum, abesse: be away

[ii] flōrēs crescunt │ the flowers are growing

When you see -sc- before the verb ending it indicates the beginning of something or becoming something else; in grammar they are known as inchoative verbs:

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/05/200424-inchoative-verbs.html

sōl lūcēscit │ the sun is beginning to shine

vesperāscit │ it’s becoming evening

[iii] participles; look out for -ns and -nt-

Ergō scrīpsī novōs versūs │ Therefore, I have written new verses

Laudāns vēr │ While praising the spring

flōrēs … suāveolentēs │ sweet-smelling flowers < suāvis, -e: sweet + oleō, -ēre, oluī: smell

[iv] gaudeāmus igitur │ let us, therefore, rejoice

From the academic song:

Gaudeāmus igitur / Iuvenēs dum sumus │ Let us, therefore, rejoice, while we are young

This is a subunctive: gaudēmus │ we rejoice > gaudeāmus │let us rejoice; Latin uses the subjunctive to express “Let’s do something”