University of Virginia Library

[A Father is pater, a mother is mater]

A Father is pater, a mother is mater,
A sister is soror, a brother is frater;
A child should obey both his father and mother,
And brothers and sisters should love one another.

[Ramus means a bough]

Ramus means a bough,
Baculum a staff;
Vacca means a cow,
Vitulus a calf.

[A bird is called avis]

A bird is called avis,
A key is called clavis,
And clava's a club;
A nail or knob's clavus,
A grandfather avus,
And frutex a shrub.

[That rex is a king, regina a queen]

That rex is a king, regina a queen,
And regnum a kingdom, to me is well known;
While sceptrum's a sceptre, corona a crown,
And solium has ever been Latin for throne.

[I fear the wise folks will deride us]

I fear the wise folks will deride us
If we cannot tell them that sidus,
And astrum, and stella, are Latin for star;
At night you may see how it shines from afar.

[Stagnum means a pool]

Stagnum means a pool,
Fluvius a river;
Arcus means a bow,
Pharĕtra a quiver;
Telum means a dart,
Which in air doth quiver;
Frigus means the cold,
Which doth make us shiver;
Donum means a gift—
Be a noble giver;
Cor doth mean the heart,
Jecur means the liver;
Flumen, I am told,
Means a flowing river.

[Saltus is a lawn or glade]

Saltus is a lawn or glade,
Open space in wood or grove,
Deer will quit the sylvan shade,
There to sport and freely rove:
There a little purling brook
O'er its pebbly bed is playing;
Sheep for tender herbage look,
By its margin softly straying.

[Grando is hail, and tonitru thunder]

Grando is hail, and tonitru thunder,
And fulmen is lightning, and that is no blunder;
And radix a root, which grows the earth under,
And flamen's a blast, which tears things asunder.

[Aura means a gentle breeze]

Aura means a gentle breeze,
Which curls the lake and moves the trees;
Ventus means the wind so loud,
Which tears the branch and drives the cloud.

[Nox is the night]

[A boy like my Herbert should ne'er]

[Rice is oryza, and milium millet]

Rice is oryza, and milium millet,
Corbis a basket,—with fruit let us fill it;
Mus is a mouse, the sly cat means to kill it;
And felis is Latin for cat.
Thus is the frankincense, sweet when you smell it;
Quercus an oak, and the woodman will fell it;
Verbum's a word, and my Herbert can spell it;
And sorex is Latin for rat.

[Dens is a tooth, gingīva the gum]

Dens is a tooth, gingīva the gum,
And manus the hand, and pollex the thumb;
A finger is digitus, cutis the skin,
And nasus the nose, and mentum the chin;
And oculus means in Latin the eye,
With which many books you'll read by and by.

[Nemus and silva I've long understood]

Nemus and silva I've long understood,
Both are in Latin the names for a wood.
Olor and cygnus are Latin for swan;
Lately I saw one glide gracefully on:
Smooth was the stream that he rested upon,
White was his plumage on which the sun shone.

[Sol is the sun]

[A meadow is pratum, a flower is called flos]

A meadow is pratum, a flower is called flos,
And muscus, my child, is the Latin for moss;
And flumen's a river, and stagnum a pool,
Magister's a master, and schola's a school.
A vineyard is vinea, hortus a garden,
And venia means what in English is pardon;
And pardon my Herbert must certainly ask,
If e'er he's accused of neglecting his task.

[Crater and likewise cratēra, I think]

Crater and likewise cratēra, I think
Both mean a bowl out of which you may drink;
Corbis and calăthus, if you should ask it,
Both are, in Latin, the names for a basket;
Also canistrum doth mean the same thing:
Herbert shall have one this very next spring,
Flow'rets, and pebbles, and mosses to bring.

[The lion in Africa reigns]

The lion in Africa reigns;
The tiger his empire maintains
In India's palm-bearing land:
And leo is Latin for lion;
I hope that I never shall spy one
Without his good keeper at hand:
A tiger is tigris; I trust I shall ne'er
Fall in with a tiger aroused from his lair.