i am not sure if this is the right board for this, but i am translating an early medieval poem. two stanzas start out in the following way:
opto meus veniat cuculus, carissimus ales.
if it wasn't for that "opto" on the beginning i would translate it as "let my cuckoo come, most precious bird."
my first reaction to the "opto" is to think indirect speech, but it has been a while since first year latin and i am not sure why "venio" wouldn't be imperfect. is there some construction of indirect speech that calls for "venio" to be in the present active subjunctive?
thanks for the help!
early medieval poem
- rDeckard
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early medieval poem
Last edited by rDeckard on Wed Jun 03, 2009 11:39 pm, edited 2 times in total.
- rDeckard
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Re: early medieval poem
yes, i know how to spell medieval, brain fart.
You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your khakis. You're the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.
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Re: early medieval poem
I desire that the cuckoo come, dearest bird.
The L&S dictionary has an example of use of opto with the subjunctive without ut in Ovid.
The L&S dictionary has an example of use of opto with the subjunctive without ut in Ovid.
Corrections are welcome (especially for projects).
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Meae editiones librorum. Αἱ ἐμαὶ ἐκδόσεις βίβλων.
Blogger Profile My library at the Internet Archive
Meae editiones librorum. Αἱ ἐμαὶ ἐκδόσεις βίβλων.
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Re: early medieval poem
And about the present subjunctive, it's just a matter of the sequence of tenses. Opto is present so it'll be followed (normally) by either the present or perfect subjunctive.