OCR GCSE Latin - Verse Literature - Baucis et Philemon (Ovid) - Lines 64-76 - Translation and Style

‘esse sacerdotes dulubraque vestra tueri

poscimus, et quoniam concordes egimus annos,

‘We ask to be priests and to guard your shrine, and since we have spent the years in harmony’

auferat hora duos eadem, nec coniugus umquam

busta meae videam neu sim tumulandus ab illa.’

‘may the same our take away the two of us, and neither may I ever see the grave of my wife, nor may I have to be buried by her.’

vota fides sequitur; templi tutela fuere,

donec vita data est. (next section)

Fulfilment followed the prayers; they were the guardian of the temple, as long as life was given (to them).

___________________annis aevoque soluti

ante gradus sacros cum starent forte locique

narrarentcases, frondere Philemona Baucis,

When, weakened by their years and time, they were standing by chance in front of the sacred steps (of the temple) and were relating the events of hte place, Baucis noticed Philemon growing leaves

Baucida conspexit senior frondere Philemon.

and the aged Philemon noticed Baucis growing leaves.

iamque super geminos crescente cacumine vultus

mutua, dum licuit, reddebant dicta ‘vale’ que

‘o coniunx’ dixere simul, simul abdita texit

ora frutex.

And now, as a treetop grew over their two faces, they exchanged words with each other, while they could, and at the same time said, ‘Farewell, O spouse’, and at the same time a shrub hid and covered their faces.

‘esse sacerdotes delubraque…tueri’ line 64

‘to be priests and to guard your shrine’ - chiasmus - juxtaposes priests and shrine - they will be there all the time

line 64/65

enjambment - emphasises verb - poscimus (ask) - confident - they know what they want

‘concordes…annos’ line 65

‘years in harmony’ - enclosing word order - peaceful years enclose B+P (egimus = we have spent)

‘auferat’ line 66

‘take away’ - euphemistic - doesn’t want to think about it; emphasises actions

‘hora…eadem’ line 66

‘the same hour’ - enclosing word order of ‘two’ - emphasises need to die at same time

‘coniugis…meae’ line 66/7

‘of my wife’ - enclosing word order - ‘busta’ has been postponed - emphatic; emphasises togetherness

‘tumulandus’ line 67

‘I have to be buried by her’ - gerundive - feel obligation

‘illa’ line 67

‘her’ - emphatic pronoun - composition - by her - anticipates her pain

‘vota fides sequitur;’ line 68

‘Fulfilment followed their prayers’ - impersonal phrase - mysterious, fickle, unsure as to what Gods actually did

‘fides…templi tutela fuere’ line 68

‘fulfilment…they were the guardian of the temple’ - alliteration of ‘t’ and ‘f’ - believed to help prayers - emphasises prayer and piety - chiasmus

lines 68/9

3 short phrases - tempo picks up - asyndetic tricolon shows how their life went - like a montage

‘donec vita data est’ line 69

‘as long as life was given’ - alliteration of ‘d’ and ‘t’ emphasises prayers

‘annis aevoque’ line 69

‘by their years and time’ - pleonasm - emphasises old age - shows about to die

‘soluti’ line 69

‘weakened’ - sense of having been released from their duties - death not bad - good - they were ready to go

‘ante gradus sacros’ line 70

‘in front of the sacred steps’ - ‘ante’ promoted - shows that they were actually in front of; delay; suspense

‘gradus’ line 70

‘steps’ - synecdoche - vivid image of size of temple - piety

‘forte’ line 70

‘by chance’ - randomness of death - unexpected - dramatic irony

line 70/71

enjambment - suspense

‘frondere Philemona…, Baucida….friondere’ line 71/2

‘Philemon growing leaves…Baucis growing leaves’ - chiasmus shows how they were growing leaves at the same time; fricative alliteration of ‘f/ph’ builds pressure and reflects emergence of leaves

‘Philemona Baucis, Baucida…Philemon’ line 71/2

chiasmus - shows how they were always a pair - lived and died together

‘conspexit’ line 72

‘noticed’ - verb does double duty - both noticed each other - contemporary

‘geminos crescente cacumine vultus’ line 73

‘as a treetop grew [over] their two faces’ - chiasmus shows the separation between their two faces - alliteration of c creates a hostile crackling sound - uncomfortable

‘mutua…dicta’ line 74

‘exchanged words’ (paraphrased so whole phrase) - two words have been separated showing B+Ps imminent separation

‘mutua, dum licuit, reddebant dicta’ line 74

‘they exchanged words with each other, while they could’ - alliteration of ‘m’ and ‘d’ creates a soft sound - pathos - sympathy - sadness

‘vale….o coniunx’ line 75/76

‘farewell o spouse’ - direct speech creates pathos, vivid, brief words

‘simul,simul’ line 75

‘and at the same time… and at the same time’ - juxtaposition shows simultaneous nature of actions - emphasises how they are dying at the same time

‘coniunx dixere…texit…frutex’ line 75/6

‘said ‘…spouse’…a shrub…covered’ - alliteration of x creates a harsh sound - fate as come rapidly, irrevocably and without warning

‘abdita text’ line 75

‘hid and covered’ -pleonasm - emphasises total coverage