Saturday, April 03, 2010

Arma Virumque Cano: A Song to Teach The Aeneid in Latin

I Sing of Arms and the Man

Link to the video on YouTube.
Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris
Italiam, fato profugus,
I sing of arms and the man who came from Troy to Italy
Exiled by fate, that’s what I’m singing.

Laviniaque, venit litora, multum
ille et terris iactatus et alto Vi
superum saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram;

I sing of arms and the man who came from Troy to Italy
Exiled by fate, that’s what I’m singing.
Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris
Italiam fato profugus.

Multa quoque et bello passus, dum conderet urbem,
inferretque deos Latio, genus unde Latinum,
Albanique patres, atque altae moenia Romae.

I sing of arms and the man who came from Troy to Italy
exiled by fate, that’s what I’m singing
Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris
Italiam fato profugus

Musa, mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso,
quidve dolens, regina deum tot volvere casus
insignem pietate virum, tot adire labores
impulerit. Tantaene animis caelestibus irae?

I sing of arms and the man who came from Troy to Italy
exiled by fate, that’s what I’m singing
Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris
Italiam fato profugus

I use this song to teach the first twelve lines of the Aeneid in Latin to our Latin club and also to my Aeneid literature class. Who says The Aeneid can't be a country song? Italy is a country.

5 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:07 PM

    All very wonderful.

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  2. Is that a tune you made or something that I might be able to find?

    Love the song.

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  3. Hi Sebastian! It is my original tune, but you're welcome to use it. Is the video working for you? I don't have sheet music but I could do guitar chords. It's in D. :)

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  4. The video works great.
    Not to add more work to you, but have you thought of podcasting the songs that you do with these groups?

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  5. Sebastian, not to be dense, but how would podcasting be different? Do you mean post them as audio only?

    ReplyDelete