https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm593SYT-_E&list=RDWm593SYT-_E&start_radio=1
[1] Miserēre
meī, Deus, secundum magnam misericordiam tuam │ Have pity on
me, O God, according to your great mercy.
[i] misereor, misererī, miseritus sum [2/deponent]: the first topic to be
discussed in detail at Level 3; this is a deponent verb, the key point
being that it looks passive (misereor) but the meaning is active
i.e. to pity, feel pity for, not *to be pitied*; miserere is the
command form: Pity me / Feel pity for me ...
[ii] secundum [+
accusative]: according to
[2] Et secundum
multitūdinem miserātiōnum tuārum, dēlē inīquitātem meam. │ And according
to the multitude of your tender mercies ‘destroy’ / put an end to /
remove my wickedness.
[iii] inīquitās,
-tātis [3/f]: iniquity, sin, wickedness; can also refer (not here) to ‘unfairness’
or ‘injustice’
[iv] miserātiō, -iōnis
[3/f]: compassion
[3] Amplius
lavā mē ab inīquitāte meā: et ā peccātō meō mundā mē. │ Wash me yet
more from my wickedness, and cleanse me from my sin.
[v] amplius:
comparative adverb
[vi] mundō, -āre,
-āvī, -ātus [1]: cleanse; clean
[4] Quoniam
inīquitātem meam ego cognōscō: et peccātum meum contrā mē est semper. │ Since
I know my wickedness: and my sin is always before me.
[vii] contrā:
(here) ‘facing’ rather than ‘against’
[5] Tibi sōlī peccāvī,
et malum cōram tē fēcī: … │To you (against you) alone I
sinned, and have done evil before you / in your presence …
[viii] sōlus, -a, -um:
only, alone
[ix] cōram [+ ablative]: before, in the presence of
[x] … ut [a]
iustificēris in sermōnibus tuīs, et [b] vincās cum iūdicāris. │… that
[a] you may be justified in your words, and [b] may overcome when
you are judged
[a] and [b] are
subjunctive forms; again, another topic to be discussed (at length) at Level 3.
What is useful at this stage is to “pick up” some of the many uses of
the subjunctive rather than diving in at the deep end and being concerned by
endings. The key word to look out for in this type of subjunctive is ut:
below are two of its common uses.
It can express:
1. the purpose
of an action:
Venit ¦ [1] ut
eam [2] videat. │ He comes ¦ [1] in order that [2] he may see
her [ = he comes to see her]
2. the result
of action:
Tam strēnuē labōrat ¦ [1] ut multa [2] perficiat
│ He works so actively ¦ [1] that [2] he achieves many things.
Here, however, it
is used in a less common and more poetic manner to express a wish.
[6] Ecce, enim in
inīquitātibus conceptus sum: et in peccātīs concēpit mē māter mea.
│ For behold I was / have been conceived in wickedness; and in
sins my mother conceived me.
[xi] concipiō,
-ere, concēpī, conceptus [3-iō]: (here) conceive; active and passive forms used
in the same line.
[7] Ecce enim
vēritātem dīlēxistī: incerta et occulta sapientiae tuae manifestāstī
mihi. │ For, behold, you have loved truth: you have shown clearly to me the
uncertain and hidden things of your wisdom
[xii] Something
else to look out for when reading original Latin literature is the syncopated
form of the verb. ‘Syncopated’ means that one or more sounds are omitted from a
verb; the term ‘contraction’ is also used. A common one is the loss of -v- in
perfect tense forms, for example:
audīvērunt
(they heard) > audiērunt
From the line:
manifestō, -āre,
-āvī, -ātus [1]: make manifest, show clearly
manifestāvistī:
you have clearly shown > manifestāstī
[xiii] incerta et
occulta: adjectives acting as nouns i.e. uncertain and hidden (things)
[8] Tunc
acceptābis sacrificium iūstitiae oblātiōnēs et holocausta tunc
inpōnent super altāre tuum vitulōs. │ Then you shall accept / receive
the sacrifice of justice, oblations* and wholly burnt offerings,
then they shall lay calves upon your altar.
[xiv] *oblātiō,
-iōnis [3/f]: offering; ‘oblations’ is a rather hefty word but it avoids
repetition of ‘offerings’
[xv] holocaustum,
-ī [2/m]: burnt offering, one completely consumed by fire
[xvi] vitulus, -ī
[2/m]: (bull-) calf
Ecclesiastical pronunciation, referring only to the piece performed
here:
[1] c+a = ka;
c+o = ko; c+u = ku; /c/ is hard [ = /k/] as in Classical Latin
peccavi
[pe-ka-vi]; coram [ko-ram]; secundum [se-kun-dum]
[2] c+e = che
(as in church); c+i = chi; not as in Classical
Latin since /c/ was always = /k/
feci [fe-chi];
ecce [e-che]
[1] and [2] in: conceptus
[kon-chep-tus]
[3] v = very:
veritātem [ve-ri-ta-tem]; CL: [ue-ri-ta-tem]
[4] cognosco:
/gn/ like the Spanish ñ = [ko-nyos-ko]; CL: hard /g/ [kog-nos-ko]
[5] sapientiae
tuae: the CL diphthong /ae/ as in Engl. my / eye shifts
to an ‘eh’ sound; in Mediaeval manuscripts what was CL /ae/ is often written
simply as /e/ to reflect the pronunciation change e.g. puelle rather
than CL puellae
https://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780190246778/student/church/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorio_Allegri
