Title translation from Latin to English: "Everywhere I have searched for peace and nowhere found it, except in a corner with a book."
I'm a huge classics fan and so in my, you know, COPIOUS free time I've been on and off teaching myself Latin, with mixed success. (The other day after I tried a translation one of my friends was kind enough to inform me, "HOW ADORABLE YOU MIXED UP GREEK AND LATIN ACCUSATIVES." And then he died. Naw jk but unto him I say WHATEVS.)
This is in between being a writer and person with a day job and fiance and family member and pet owner and horseback rider and friend and OH GOD SEND HELP. This is why I don't, uh, sleep. If you see me online at 3am now you know why.
I totally didn't write this post at 2:07 in the morning. Totally.
On the other hand, biting off way more than I can chew has its upsides. I often learn the most amazing things in the most random ways. For instance, the other day I was working on said translation when I went hunting for the proper way to decline a verb. In my search I landed on a website that mentioned a phrase by Catullus (he wrote one very sweet poem and an awful lot of HOLY SHEET DO YOU HUG YOUR MOTHER WITH THOSE HANDS poems). I googled that to find some more Catullus and found a listing of poetry that happened to mention a poem named Scheherazade. I've always been a big fan of the Persian myths, so I decided to look it up, and happened upon one of the most gorgeous poems I've read recently (check back for it on Monday's poetry and coffee).
So never stop learning. You won't get any sleep, but who needs sleep? Dormite quando mortuae estis. And that's in the feminine plural imperative - I think.
Good luck! The only Latin I know and marginally remember is the main parts of the mass from my college singing days. (Before you give me too much credit, the Kyrie is near impossible NOT to remember. ;) )
ReplyDeleteHey, that's more than I have memorized in one go! And thanks :)
DeleteOoh, neat, learning Latin. I frequently wish I had taken Latin instead of French in high school; it was one of the four offerings my school had. But, I'd had French in elementary school, so it seemed the logical choice.
ReplyDeleteI agree! I took Spanish and boy do I wish I'd taken Latin instead - I couldn't be WORSE at Latin, let's put it that way.
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