From “Ulysses” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

[LupusLeo]

Hi, there,

Happy New Year! Ulysses by Alfred, Lord Tennyson is one of my favorite poems. I have been trying to figure out how to translate the last two lines of it into Latin, which is

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

I would highly appreciate it if anyone give a helping hand!

Thanks in advance!

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45392/ulysses

 

[Ignis Umbra]

Hey there!

Pardon me for being pedantic, but would you like a scan of the two verses (i.e. would you like the Latin lines manipulated to fit "poetry rules") or do you want them translated as standalone phrases?

 

[LupusLeo]

Hey there!

Pardon me for being pedantic, but would you like a scan of the two verses (i.e. would you like the Latin lines manipulated to fit "poetry rules") or do you want them translated as standalone phrases?

Standalone phrases are fine, but ascan of the two verses would be great!

 

[Bitmap]

tempore et fato debilitati, sed forti animo confirmati
ad nitendum, ad quaerendum, ad inveniendum, ad non desistendum.

 

[Bitmap]

Tried to put it in hexameters, but it's not overwhelmingly easy ...

open for suggestions:

debilitati annis, animo tamen usque parati
niti, sectari, reperire, et cedere numquam

 

[Glabrigausapes]

I have an alternative to first line, but can't beat the second:

Tempore fatoque exanimati, vis tamen est îs
niti, sectari, reperire, et cedere numquam

 

[Glabrigausapes]

Tempore fatoque exanimati, vis tamen est is

I also notice it's dactyl-then-spondee all the way across. 'zer a name for that?

 

[Bitmap]

I also notice it's dactyl-then-spondee all the way across. 'zer a name for that?

I don't think so.

Tempore fatoque exanimati, vis tamen est îs

It doesn't have a caesura (the problem of getting in a caesura was the main reason I didn't choose the obvious tempore fato(que)).

but can't beat the second:

I was wondering if there was a better word than sectari that would also fit in ... I also thought of locumque tenere instead of et cedere numquam but that's less literal and possibly not what was meant.

 

[Deleted member 13757]

not easy this one


et, licet, exiguo sim temporis agmine et fato
infirmus - fortis sum, comites, animo.

 

[Deleted member 13757]

et, licet, exiguo sim temporis agmine et fato
infirmus - fortis sum, comites, animo.

I may be by the small river of time and fate
weak - (but) I am strong, my friends, in will

Not sure...

 

[Matthaeus]

It doesn't have a caesura (the problem of getting in a caesura was the main reason I didn't choose the obvious tempore fato(que)).

But isn't there one after the fourth foot, after exanimati? Isn't that called a feminine caesura?

 

[Bitmap]

That's a diaeresis.

 

[Deleted member 13757]

But isn't there one after the fourth foot, after exanimati? Isn't that called a feminine caesura?

Almost never happens on that foot.

 

[Matthaeus]

hmm but "almost" still implies that it does every now and then, even if only 0.1% of the time. I'd be interested to see some examples.

 

[Deleted member 13757]

hmm but "almost" still implies that it does every now and then, even if only 0.1% of the time. I'd be interested to see some examples.

I actually don't remember any example of the top of my head (it's been a long long time) I just remember I was being chewed out for not putting it on 2 or 3

 

[Bitmap]

hmm but "almost" still implies that it does every now and then, even if only 0.1% of the time. I'd be interested to see some examples.

A caesura has to be in the middle a foot; either after the first length (masculine caesura) or after the first short syllable of a dactyle (feminine caesura).

In the example up there, the stop is at the end of the foot, which is called a diaeresis.

Latin usually has a caesura in the 3rd foot, and sometimes in the 4th (usually accompanied by another one in foot 2 or 3). Most caesurae in Latin are masculine.

I actually don't remember any example of the top of my head I just remember I was being chewed out for not putting it on 2 or 3

A caesura in the fourth foot is normal, it is usually accompanied by a weaker caesura in the 2nd or 3rd:
Musa mihi // causas memora // quo numine laeso

Btw, your line up there has the problem that the et before fato makes the syllable long.

 

[Deleted member 13757]

Most caesurae in Latin are masculine.

Gender coding!

Btw, your line up there has the problem that the et before fato makes the syllable long.

 

[Agrippa]

How about the following iambici senarii:

Aetate et fato diro nos fessos vides,
Sed mens non fracta nobis perstat vivida
Agendi nec cessandi: constantes sumus.

 

[LupusLeo]

How about the following iambici senarii:

Aetate et fato diro nos fessos vides,
Sed mens non fracta nobis perstat vivida
Agendi nec cessandi: constantes sumus.

Thanks!

 

[LupusLeo]

Tried to put it in hexameters, but it's not overwhelmingly easy ...

open for suggestions:

debilitati annis, animo tamen usque parati
niti, sectari, reperire, et cedere numquam

This one is great. Thanks!