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si meum esset exemplum

English translation: if the precedent were my own

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Latin term or phrase:si meum esset exemplum
English translation:if the precedent were my own
Entered by: SeiTT

09:48 Sep 8, 2013
Latin to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
Latin term or phrase: si meum esset exemplum
Greetings

Please see:
http://la.wikisource.org/wiki/Epigrammaton_liber_I
Lascivam verborum veritatem, id est epigrammaton linguam, excusarem, si meum esset exemplum: sic scribit Catullus, sic Marsus, sic Pedo, sic Gaetulicus, sic quicumque perlegitur.

I would excuse the wanton truth of words, i.e. the language of epigrams, if ………

Best wishes, and many thanks,

Simon
SeiTT
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:01
if the precedent were my own
Explanation:
'I would excuse the saucy truth of words—that is, the language of epigrams—if the precedent were my own; (but) thus did Catullus write, thus Marsus, thus Pedo, thus Gaetulicus, thus whosoever is perused.'

The asyndeton of this protasis is patently adversative, the actual use of a strong adversative conjunction such as ‘at’ or ‘attamen’ being precluded by the exigencies of the metre. All the poets mentioned were epigrammatists of the 1st centuries BCE and CE and are all notable for their sometimes loose or actually pornographic content, although Catullus is the only one whose work survives in anything like a complete form. For the scanty remains of their poetry, cf. Fragmenta Poetarum Latinorum Epicorum et Lyricorum, ed. Jürgen Blänsdorf, Teubner, 1995. pp. 278ff., 290ff., 307f.
Selected response from:

Joseph Brazauskas
United States
Local time: 10:01
Grading comment
Many thanks, very good indeed!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4if the precedent were my own
Joseph Brazauskas


Discussion entries: 6





  

Answers


2 days 12 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
if the precedent were my own


Explanation:
'I would excuse the saucy truth of words—that is, the language of epigrams—if the precedent were my own; (but) thus did Catullus write, thus Marsus, thus Pedo, thus Gaetulicus, thus whosoever is perused.'

The asyndeton of this protasis is patently adversative, the actual use of a strong adversative conjunction such as ‘at’ or ‘attamen’ being precluded by the exigencies of the metre. All the poets mentioned were epigrammatists of the 1st centuries BCE and CE and are all notable for their sometimes loose or actually pornographic content, although Catullus is the only one whose work survives in anything like a complete form. For the scanty remains of their poetry, cf. Fragmenta Poetarum Latinorum Epicorum et Lyricorum, ed. Jürgen Blänsdorf, Teubner, 1995. pp. 278ff., 290ff., 307f.


Joseph Brazauskas
United States
Local time: 10:01
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 56
Grading comment
Many thanks, very good indeed!
Notes to answerer
Asker: Many thanks, Joseph - just a thought: wouldn't he be less excusable rather than more excusable if he himself had invented the genre i.e. if the precedent had been his own? As things stand he's just imitating others and so is less culpable, I would have thought.

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