Help.. Any latin experts out there?

Does anyone know what this means?

"Ad te limen amibile levavi oculos tibi haec carmina et quidquid inest leporis peitatis signum dedico"

It seems like a dedication, its at the beginning of a book of poetry that I'm looking at. Above the dedication is the name of a property with dates that the poet lived there (which is now my home! so I'm very curious)

Any help would be appreciated. I've looked on the net at the various peicemeal words but I can't really get the full sense of it,

I did 18 months of latin at high school, and it does seem to be a dedication, so I went off to google to find some latin to english online translators.

To you limina amibile alleviation eye to you this song and quidquid to be in or on to charm peitatis signal to dedicate

is what both throw up. the translators seem to be word for word, the grammar is out.

A bit more rooting around, and a alternate translation of Limen is Threshold. Quidquid makes no sense, but Quid is what/who. Levavi is a word that translates differently dependant on context in english. The closest seems to be Refreshement, while the mechanical translator picks alleviate. Thats the problem with languages, different words overlap in meaning between the different languages. Oculos is translated as eye, but I suspect it means See instead in this phrase. Signal seems to be used in the english meaning of a Signal event, as in one or single. I can't translate Amibile, other than the root fits Amicable (english) and Amis (french) and is likely meaning happy or friendly. Petitis I cannot make sense of. Carmina has an aternative translation of poem.

Latin grammar places the cerbs and adjectives differently from english, but I can't quite recall where and how they should be placed.

"To this friendly seeming, refreshing threshold/home which is charming to be in, I dedicate this poem/poetry"

is the best I can do as an english translation

Just use Google. Really.

Go to the home page, select "Language Tools" (just right of the search box).

Enter the Latin text in the "Translate Text" box.

Select "Latin" from the left-hand drop-down box just below it.

The right hand box probably already has "English" selected.

Click on "Translate". Easy!

google translation doesn't have latin, they do have latvian, but thats a couple of letters out you can have googles pages and notices appear in latin tho on the other hand I think Google languages Elmer Fudd is more entertaining

Hi Ame, sounds good but Latin isn't available on the left hand drop down? Any clues?

Thanks k303... those the same results as I got.
Levavi Oculos I found to mean "lift/raise your eyes"
Pietatis - from what I can tell is piety
and I think leoporis was 'witty'...

but yeah still having difficulty getting the full sense of it.

So you think its a dedication to the home? That's what I thought too. Especially in the way its laid out on the page.

Here's the link to the pdf page:
www.nzetc.org/etexts/BetDaya/BetDaya00v.jpg

I think pietatis is to do with history...:rolleyes:

Jen, I'm no help at all but wonder if it would be worth asking a older Catholic priest, a theological college or even a doctor.

Of just as much interest is the book. Is it very old? And how did you come by the book. Seems as though there is a bit of history wrapped up in your home and people who previously lived there. Would you like to share?

Cheers,
Ronnie

that picture makes it easier counting syllables, that inscription is in meter, it is poetry itself Breaking it down and treating it as 3 separate sub phrases makes it easier to translate.

taking your "lift my eyes" as the translation of levavi oculos :

"Up to this attractive house I lift my eyes,
To Thou the poetry each one in me,
Grace Pietatis This I dedicate."

Pietatis is unknown, but if pietatis is the root to piety, the last line could be "By the grace of god I dedicate this"

Its a dedication, and it's done in poem form I love solving a challenge

check out www.stars21.com/translator/latin_to_english.html
you have 4 options, intertran, CTCWeb, Lynn Nelson, and Notre Dame. of the 4, CTCWeb is the only one to make sense of quidquid, and Amibile. it's quite good

edit, pietatis has surrendered to meaning
responibility, sense of duty, loyalty, piety.

"Up to this attractive house I lift my eyes,
To Thou the poetry each one in me,
Grace and loyalty this I dedicate.

Good grief kiki303![:0][:0] Your gun tot'n, kill em, eat em persona, didn't prepare me for that! LOL
Nice to see an erudite side to you. []
Beautiful.

Gidday

Not only would he be handy covering your back while hunting in the Urawera's but he'd be handy in the chemist shop or garden centre.

Good onya mate.

"Curre, cuniculus, curre! [}][}][}]

You could adopt that as your family motto, Kiwi []

Thanks k303. That's amazing I'm so glad I asked!

Yes, the home albeit a simple design was built for an early NZ poet. Her name was Mary Usula Bethell and she was important during the era of NZ esablishing its 'own' identity in terms of literature and the arts. Her family was fairly well to do had been back and forth from England, she was very well educated. Her social scene involved many early writers and artists who are now famous. This includes Toss Woolaston for those you know artists, who she actually employed as a gardener at the cottage to help him pay his way while he was struggling to establish himself. I think she set up a fund for him and perhaps even talked him out of giving up painting altogether.

She was also quite religious and did social work for the Anglican church so perhaps this is how/why she was fluent in latin.

The house has a heritage rating to protect the spot where she composed most of her published work. (It's really not a flash house.. which fits in a lot of ways, she seemd like the type of person who would have cherished the simplicity of things).I knew nothing about her before we bought the house. We just loved it, and then I've started learning a bit more about her since.

Actually. I'll post the poem that has most stuck me so far since it's talking about our home now

Some of you may enjoy her work actually, she talks about establishing the garden and the beauty in the things she plants and the changing of the seasons. I just found a website yesterday that has made pdf copies of her published books here:

www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/name-123170.html

Actually. I'll post the poem that has most stuck me so far since it's talking about our home now.

Time
By Mary Ursula Bethell
‘Established’ is a good word, much used in garden books,
‘The plant, when established’…
Oh, become established quickly, quickly, garden!
For I am fugitive, I am very fugitive—
Those that come after me will gather these roses,
And watch, as I do now, the white wistaria
Burst, in the sunshine, from its pale green sheath.
Planned. Planted. Established. Then neglected,
Till at last the loiterer by the gate will wonder
At the old, old cottage, the old wooden cottage,
And say, ‘One might build here, the view is glorious;
This must have been a pretty garden once.’

Hi Kiwi,

yes, pietas means piety. Pietatis is the genitiv of pietas - I hope this makes sense?

Very good translation I must say. I learnt Latin for 5 years:eek:, 4 hours per week:eek:

It was my worst subject But dad insisted[}] I woud have preferred to learn French or Spanish[8D]