|
''Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori'' is a line from the Roman lyrical poet Horace's ''Odes'' (III.2.13). The line can be roughly translated into English as: "It is sweet and glorious to die for one's country." Thanks to the poem by Wilfred Owen incorporating the phrase, it is now often referred to as "the Old Lie"; see below. ==Context== The poem from which the line comes exhorts Roman citizens to develop martial prowess such that the enemies of Rome, in particular the Parthians, will be too terrified to resist them. In John Conington's translation, the relevant passage reads: To suffer hardness with good cheer, In sternest school of warfare bred, Our youth should learn; let steed and spear Make him one day the Parthian's dread; Cold skies, keen perils, brace his life. Methinks I see from rampired town Some battling tyrant's matron wife, Some maiden, look in terror down,— “Ah, my dear lord, untrain'd in war! O tempt not the infuriate mood Of that fell lion I see! from far He plunges through a tide of blood!” What joy, for fatherland to die! Death's darts e'en flying feet o'ertake, Nor spare a recreant chivalry, A back that cowers, or loins that quake.〔(''The Odes and Carmen Saeculare of Horace'', John Conington. trans. London. George Bell and Sons. 1882 )〕 A humorous elaboration of the original line was used as a toast in the 19th century: "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori, sed dulcius pro patria vivere, et dulcissimum pro patria bibere. Ergo, bibamus pro salute patriae." A reasonable English translation would be: "It is sweet and fitting to die for the homeland, but sweeter still to live for the homeland, and sweetest yet to drink for the homeland. So, let us drink to the health of the homeland." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|