phrenology

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sardith
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phrenology

Postby sardith » Sat Apr 16, 2011 9:25 am

I need some help.

I am celebrating National Poetry Month like Dr. Goodword mentioned the other day, and found an amusing poem called, 'Phrenology', by W.S. Gilbert, of Gilbert and Sullivan fame.

Only one problem: there is one line of Latin in the poem that I cannot get an intelligent translation for on the internet sites I have tried.

Does anyone have a good resource? Or can anyone tell me what this means?

"SORTE TUA CONTENTUS SIS"

I apologize if this is not the correct forum, but I truly have searched for hours, and you are all so resourceful.

Thanks,
Sardith :)

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Slava
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Postby Slava » Sat Apr 16, 2011 7:29 pm

My Latin professor gives this:

“May you be happy with your lot.”

Does that help?

sardith
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Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2009 10:21 am
Location: Central California

phrenology

Postby sardith » Sun Apr 17, 2011 1:26 am

Thank you, Slava, that is quite helpful.

I was able to figure out everything else, most of which was confusing because of weird spelling, or old and unfamiliar to ME spelling.

If you're interested, I'll post the 'Phrenology' poem to which I refer. It is witty.

Again, thanks for coming to my aid once again.
Sardith :)

Philip Hudson
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Postby Philip Hudson » Wed Feb 22, 2012 2:47 am

Sardith: Since the poem is by Gilbert it may be worth posting. I will read it. Whatever you do, remember that phrenology has no basis in science.

Slava: Did you really have to ask your Latin professor or are you just being modest?
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

Perry Lassiter
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Postby Perry Lassiter » Wed Feb 22, 2012 1:40 pm

I suspect the problem was not in spelling, but in word order. Literally, it says "your lot be content (or happy). Cf Paul in Phil 4:11. When translating anything, which I do poorly without a lexicon handy, I have to review mentally the word order in that language.
pl


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