ginlindzey

novit loturos Dasius numerare: poposcit
mammosam Spatelen pro tribus; illa dedit. Martial II.52

That Dasius counts all his bathers
when charging amounts for his favors
demanding for fees--three--
from double D Spatty;
she paid him requiring no waivers.

I'm in the process of putting together materials (revising them, really) for a translation project for the Latin 3's. Nothing taxing: just translating a Martial Epigram or two into double dactyls or limericks. I have found my oldest ones, but cannot figure out WHERE I posted/typed in ones I've written/translated in more recent years. (I must check my various journals, I suppose.)

For my own amusement (and anyone out there who still reads this usually sleeping blog), here are the poems in question:

Martial VII.3
Cur non mitto meos tibi, Pontiliane, libellos?
Ne mihi tu mittas, Pontiliane, tuos.

Fear of Reciprocity

Higgledy Piggledy
Pontilianus, ac-
quaintance of Martial and
Rather a pest:
"Send me your book!" M said
Epigrammatic'ly
"Risk reciprocity?
Surely you jest!"

I.19
Si memini, fuerant tibi quattuor, Aelia, dentes:
expulit una duos tussis et una duos.
Iam secura potes totis tussire diebus:
nil istic quod agat tertia tussis habet.

Free to Cough

Higgledy Piggledy
Elderly Aelia,
Subject of Martial's po-
etical jeer,
Lost her teeth (four) in two
Superpertussial
Fits; from a third fit she
now has no fear.

***

Here's my problem: if I were to grade these using the rubric I've just created I doubt I could get above a 90--because my translations are loose. I'm trying to make a truly detailed rubric so that my expectations are TOTALLY CLEAR but I fear that it has problems. Here's what I've got so far:

GRADING RUBRIC:

Project Appearance:
__10 pts: typed (any typeface—feel free to be artistic and have fun)
__10 pts: name / header at the top
__10 pts: original title for your poem/translation
__10 pts: your poem/translation in the form of a limerick, double dactyl or some other rhythmic, rhyming format
__10 pts: Latin epigram, properly formatted, with its proper citation beneath your poem.

The Poem:
poetic qualities
__20 pts: translation accurately fits the poetic structure of a lymerick or double dactyl
__15 pts: translation is in the form of a lymerick or double dactyl but is somewhat imperfect in its execution
__15 pts: translation uses a simpler poetic, rhyming form
__10 pts: translation is in the form of a lymerick or double dactyl but has serious flaws in its execution
__10 pts: translation uses a simpler poetic, rhyming form that is somewhat imperfect in its execution
__5 pts: translation uses a simpler poetic, rhyming form that has serious flaws in its execution
translation qualities
__20 pts: translation captures the essense of Martial’s original poem, follows the grammar closely without being pedantic, and thus is cleverly translated
__15 pts: translation captures the essense of Martial’s original, is clever, but is too losely translated
__10 pts: translation more or less captures the essense of Martial’s original, but is not very clever or is too losely translated
__5 pts: the translation demonstrates familiarity with the poem
mechanics
__10 pts: poem is free from typos, misspellings, and other errors
__5 pts: poem has some typos, misspellings, or other errors but they are not too distracting


___________ Total Points Earned


Any thoughts or comments?