La presenza del latino in un brano di Shakespeare (english version)

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Un paio di pagine tratte dal percorso sulla letteratura latina che sto preparando per il Pontificio Ateneo Salesiano

An excursus, a digression in modern literature.

Here you can see how many english words have an etymological relationship with latin words.

There is a king of Shakespeare who gives the reasons of the fear that kings and tyrants have: he is Richard II and speaks when has lost his power.

Richard II[1] was deposed in 1399 by Bolingbroke the following Henry IV.

The king deprived of power and a little after of life, exposes the sad history of the life and death of many kings:

“For God’sake let us sit (lat. sedeo, gr. e[zomai) upon the ground

And tell sad (–lat. satur, full) stories (historia, iJstoriva) of the death of kings:/

How some have been deposed (de-pono), some slain in war,

Some haunted by the ghosts they have deposed,

Some poisoned (potio-onis,drink, ) by their wives, some sleeping kill’d,

All murdered (lat. mors). For within the hollow

 Crown (lat. corona, wreath, korwniv") /

That rounds-rotundus- the mortal temples (lat.mortalia tempora) of a king/

Keeps death his court (cohors, courtyard); and there the antic (antiquus) sits,/

Scoffing his state and grinning at his pomp- (–lat. pompa, pomphv solemn procession),/

Allowing-late latin. allocare (to allot, lat. al – for ad, to, and locare, to place, from locus, a place). him a breath, a little scene- lat. scena-skhnhv,

To monarchize, be fear’d-(lat. periculum, danger), and kill with looks,

Infusing (lat. infusus p. p. of infundo in e fundo to pour), him with self and vain(vanus) conceit,/

As if this flesh which walls- (vallum and vallus palisade, vallare, to entrench)- about our life/

Were brass impregnable (lat. in negative prefix, not,+prehendere, to take); and humour’d (-lat. umor-,moisture, lat. umēre, to be moist)- thus,

Comes at the last, and with a little pin  lat- pinna , a wing, fin, pen)

Bores (-lat. forare)- through his castle (castellum, dimin. of castrum, a fortified place) wall, and farewell king!/

Cover (lat. cooperio, to cover) your heads, and mock not late (l. muccare, to blow the nose mucus –mucus from the nose) flesh and blood/

With solemn (lat sol(l)emnis da sollus,entire, complet)+ annus, year) reverence (reverentia), throw (Idg. base*trē, as in Gk. trh'ma, a hole The grade *ter appears in L. terere, to bore, to consume, GK, teivrein, to bore, to wear out). away respect (lat. respectus, pp. of respicio, a looking at)

Tradition (traditus pp of tradere=trā for trans, across, +dere for dare , to give) form-(lat. forma ,shape), and ceremonious-lat caerimonia, a caeremony, rite) duty;/

For you have but mistook me all this while.

I live with bread, like you; feel want,

Taste-(lat. taxo an intensive form of tango, I touch) grief ( lat. gravis, heav)-, need friends. Subjected-(subiectus pp. of subicio, tu put under, sub under, iacere, to cast, to put) thus ,/

How can you say to me I am a king? (Riccardo II, III, ii, 155-177)

The royalty is unmasked and shown naked also in The tempest (1613) when the boatswain says: “what cares these roarers for the name of King?”

And after, the same sailor says to the king Alonso and to nobleman Gonzalo: “To cabin: silence trouble-lat. turba- us not!” (I, 1)

giovanni ghiselli

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[1] Richard II Plantagenet was king of England from 1377 to 1399. The tragedy by Shakespeare was written in 1595.