Thirteen Ways of Looking at Rodney (Latin remix)

[jadesfire]

Below the cut is a vivid demonstration of why I should never, ever get bored.

A week ago, bironic wrote Thirteen Ways of Looking at Rodney, based on this poem by Wallace Stevens. For some reason, I decided it would be really great to translate them into Latin. No, even I haven't worked out why yet, but I'm quite pleased with the results.

I chose to translate them into Classical Latin, even though 'Ancient' in Stargate uses the various forms of Latin freely and interchangeably. Think of this as an early dialect.

Huge thanks to sepia_words, who untangled my grammar and made my adjectives agree with my nouns. There is a story to accompany these poems, here



Tresdecim Modi ut Rodneius Videre Posset

I.	Inter viginti physicos castigatos solum manus Rodneii movebant.	Among twenty chastised scientists, The only moving things Were Rodney's hands.
II.	eram unum inter tres mentes ut speculum quantum in quo sunt tres Rodneii	I was of three minds, Like a quantum mirror In which there are three Rodneys.
III.	diu, in tempestate violenta, Rodneius commorabatur erat in mime antiquissima res.	Rodney stalled for time in the lashing storm. It was a key part of the pantomime.
IV.	cafaeum et physica sunt unum. cafaeum et physica et Rodneius sunt unum.	Coffee and physics Are one. Coffee and physics and Rodney Are one.
V.	non scio quod praeferre vel formam rationum vel formam astriacavi vel Rodneium ridentum vel postea.	I do not know which to prefer, The beauty of calculations Or the beauty of the wormhole, Rodney smiling Or just after.
VI.	mare portanavem complebat aqua gelida. umbra Samanthae Carteris transibat, huc illuc. Rodneius umbram secutus est mente obscura.	The ocean filled the small jumper With numbing water. The shadow of Sam Carter Crossed it, to and fro. Rodney Followed the shadow With fading coherence.
VII.	Stulti Atlantii! cur linguas beneficentiores concipitis? num videtis Rodneium servare vitas hominum circum vos?	O morons of Atlantis, Why do you imagine kinder tongues? Do you not see how Rodney Saves the lives Of the people around you?
VIII.	scio pertinacem fidem et tremulam, improvisam fortitudinem, sed quoque scio Rodneius implicari in quibus scio.	I know stubborn assurance And trembling, unexpected bravery; But I know, too, That Rodney is involved In what I know.
IX.	cum Rodneius ad Ascensium accederet, marginum significavit unum multorum circulorum	When Rodney neared Ascension, It marked the edge Of one of many circles.
X.	si Rodneius cadebat in luce caerula etiam milites Geniorum acriter exclamabant	At the sight of Rodney Falling in a burst of blue light, Even the soldiers of Genii Would cry out sharply.
XI.	Iohannes per Atlantum, in somniis homines serpebat. olim, metus eum pupugit. ne umbram imaginis habuisse pro Rodneio.	John stalked through Atlantis In people's dreams. Once, a fear pierced him, In that he mistook The shadow of his doppelganger For Rodney.
XII.	urbs quieta est. certe Rodneius excubat	The city is quiet. Rodney must be keeping watch.
XIII.	vesper erat totum postmeridianum. pluebat pluetque. Rodneius sursum intuitus est ab podie.	It was evening all afternoon. It was raining And it was going to rain. Rodney gazed up From the balcony.

Comments

[bironic.livejournal.com]

I love this. I love looking back and forth between the columns and putting my high school Latin to use by attempting to retrace what you did. I love that whole lines can be encapsulated in single words (pluebat, pluetque). I love the sound of Rodneii. And "astriacavi" -- beautiful. Every time I read it I find something new and cool. Please, play with my fic anytime! :D

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

Yay! It was a fascinating experience, trying to work out equivalent Latin constructions, to convey the sense of your words. I think I only had to fudge it a bit in the first one; otherwise, the sense translated nicely. I'm so glad you like 'astriacavi'! I played with various ideas, but decided 'star tunnel' got the sense across better than a literal translation.

I had much fun, exercised some atrophied muscles and altogether enjoyed myself far too much. Thank you for letting me play :)

[(Anonymous)]

Both poems are so graceful! I particularly love the lines

pluebat
pluetque

because they capture the succinctness of Latin so perfectly! <3

[purridot.livejournal.com]

Sorry, that was me... I just woke up, obviously. *goes to have coffee*

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

*grin* No problem.

I think they were my two favourite lines as well. It was a fascinating exercise, trying to convey sense rather than being literal - I'd forgotten how inflexible and how flexible Latin is.

Glad you enjoyed, thanks!

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

Stulti Atlantii!

Oh my God, Jades, that is wonderful! Latin is so great for conveying such lip-curling disdain!

I love this!

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

*grin* That line did just seem to come naturally. Latin's fantastic for insults.

Thanks!

[kassrachel.livejournal.com]

cafaeum et physica
sunt unum.
cafaeum et physica et Rodneius
sunt unum.

::dies::

Oh, man, this is utterly fantastic.

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

*beams* thank you so much! I had huge amounts of fun with this, and was really surprised at how well they translated. That one came out particularly well :D

Really glad you enjoyed!

[twistedchick]

Est una magna magnifica fabula.