Protect my heart with your love

[H_Lecter]

Hi,

is anyone able to translate the following sentence?

"Protect my heart with your love"

Thanks in advance!

 

[Iynx]

I think I could manage the Latin, but I think I'd like a little more context before getting into a discussion of body parts with a person of that user-name.

 

[H_Lecter]

I think I could manage the Latin, but I think I'd like a little more context before getting into a discussion of body parts with a person of that user-name.

:-D Got no vicious thoughts. The sentence might be written in a jewel if I'm satisfied with it. ("Protect my heart with your love")

edit: I already have one suggestion. Is it okay, or does someone have another suggestion?

"Protect my heart with your love"
"tuo cor meum munito amore"

 

[Iynx]

tuo cor meum munito amore

Perhaps this is not quite right. Cor meum is fine for "my heart" either as a subject or as a direct object, and tuo amore can mean "with your love" (it doesn't matter that the two words are separated by the whole rest of the sentence).

But munito is, I think, the only thing that could be a verb here, and it doesn't (to me) make much sense in this place. Viam munito would mean "I build a road"; I don't think that's what you want here.

You may perhaps be thinking of munitus, -a, -um which mean "well fortified", as a town might be protected by defensive works.

Tuo cor meum amore munitum sit

would be "Let my heart be fortified by your love".

There are a number of other ways that one might in Latin express the idea of protection. One might for example use the verb defendo, or the verb tueor. There has been considerable discussion of this matter already on this forum.

*********************************************************

It has been said of me that I can never pass up a pun; the rank injustice of such a calumny is nowhere better seen than here. I could easily have responded to either or both of H_Lecter's posts here by simply saying

CANNIBAL AD PORTAS!

But courtesy forbade.

 

[Cato]

munito is, I think, the rare future imperative form from munio, -ire - "fortify". I agree this is probably a poor choice for the verb "protect", and am not sure the strong future imperative is what is needed here (the kinder subjunctive I think is better).

 

[H_Lecter]

Thanks Iynx & chjones!

Tuo cor meum amore munitum sit

would be "Let my heart be fortified by your love".

There are a number of other ways that one might in Latin express the idea of protection. One might for example use the verb defendo, or the verb tueor.

That looks okay, but increases the texts space, which is limited on a jewel.

How those two alternative verbs (defendo & tueor) can be used on that sentence? How do you set them that the grammar stays correct?

 

[Iynx]

Thank you, Cato, I had overlooked the possibility of a second imperative.

Cato's obsservation, H_Lecter, means that your original version is in fact grammatical.

Alternate forms:

tuo cor meum muni amore
tuo cor meum defende amore
tuo cor meum defendeto amore

tuo cor meum tuere amore
tuo cor meum tuetor amore

The last two seem very odd or clumsy to me; I'm not sure why.

 

[H_Lecter]

Okay. Referring to Cato, if we consider the sentence as a wish, which latin verb would work here as a kind subjunctive?

 

[Cato]

Since it's my suggestion, let me answer that. Using munio, defendo, and tueor per Iynx's post, the verbs in his sentences could be changed to munias, defendas, and tuearis (or tueare), i.e.:

tuo cor meum munias amore
tuo cor meum defendas amore
tuo cor meum tuearis/tueare amore

 

[deudeditus]

I would just like to add that I think it's really cool that the protector (tuus amor) surrounds (meum cor)... like the words themselves are protecting the heart... really nice.

couldn't animus be used for heart, as well. I thougt cor meant the physical heart rather than the seat of emotions. Just a suggestion... I looked it up and found myself to be wrong. illo cor tuum, H_Lector, semper defendatur amore.

-Jon

 

[H_Lecter]

Does the latin translation alter if the english version alters to

May my heart be protected by your love
May your love protect my heart

?

Or is it still the same sentence, but can be interpret in different ways in english?

 

[Cato]

Does the latin translation alter if the english version alters to

May my heart be protected by your love
May your love protect my heart

?

Or is it still the same sentence, but can be interpret in different ways in english?

These are rewordings of the same sentence; the thought expressed remains the same. Just as in English, the grammar of the language is flexible enough to allow the same thought to be expressed in a variety of ways.

In the examples above, each is reworded such that the implied subject "you" in the original "Protect my heart..." is eliminated; the only nouns in these sentences are "heart" and "love". The only difference between the two is that the first is in passive voice, the second is in active voice. Latin has all these grammatical forms, so an equivalent grammatical construction is possible.

Your question should be which of these is the best way to express the underlying sentiment in Latin. You will have to answer that; all I can do is translate:

tuo cor meum amore muniatur - "May my heart be protected by your love" (substitute defendatur for muniatur if you like; tueor cannot be used in this construction).
tuus cor meum amor muniat - "May your love protect my heart" (substitute defendat or tueatur for muniatur if you like).

Word order is more flexible in Latin than in English; as posters have pointed out, surrounding cor meum with tuus amor/tuo amore makes the words "my love" literally protecting "your heart", a neat trick that anyone who knows Latin would appreciate. The various verbs can be placed either at the end of the sentence, between the meum and amor/amore, or frankly just about anywhere.

 

[Iynx]

Cor certainly can be the anatomic organ; both Aquinas and Harvey wrote treatises De Motu Cordis.

But it can also signify the (or a) seat of intellect, memory, volition, or emotion. An example that lies ready to my hand is from the Aeneid (i: 303-4):

...Et iam iussa facit, ponuntque ferocia Poeni corda volente deo...

Which I take to mean "And now he does his bidding, and the Phoenicians, God willing, lay aside their savage hearts", that is, their savage intentions.

It can even be a term of endearment, as in the English "dear heart" or "heart of my heart"; Plautus (Poenulus 365ff) includes it in a whole string of pet-names:

Mea voluptas, mea delicia, mea vita, mea amoenitas,
meus ocellus, meum labellum, mea salus, meum savium,
meum mel, meum cor, mea colustra, meus molliculus caseus—

(Young people: old Iynx has never claimed any expertise in affairs of the heart. But he very much doubts that labellum, colustra, or molliculus caseus translate very well into English in this context. Yet if you do try one of these in English, I would indeed like to hear how it works out for you...)

 

[H_Lecter]

Thanks for your great help and analysis! I selected two nominees for the jewel, and now start to figure out which one suits better:

tuo cor meum amore defendatur - "May my heart be protected by your love"
tuo cor meum defendas amore - "Protect my heart with your love"

 

[Cato]

(Young people: old Iynx has never claimed any expertise in affairs of the heart. But he very much doubts that labellum, colustra, or molliculus caseus translate very well into English in this context. Yet if you do try one of these in English, I would indeed like to hear how it works out for you...)

Caseus and colustra in particular--talk about the power of cheese/dairy products! I've got to believe Plautus is putting us on here, especially given the endearee's reply to this list: Mene ego illaéc patiar praesente dici? Discrucior miser! - "Should I put up with these thing said in my presence? I'm wretchedly tortured!"