(1) frigida non fricda (2) auris non oricla (3) auctoritas non autoritas (4) ostiae non hostiae (5) vapulo non baplo (6) passim non passi

(f) The following passages are taken from Brunot’s “Histoire de la langue Fracaise,” p. 144.  In the third column the opening sentence of the famous Oath of Strasburg of 842 A.D. is given.  In the other columns the form which it would have taken at different periods is set down.  These passages bring out clearly the unbroken line of descent from Latin to modern French.

    The Oath of Strasburg of 842

    Classic Latin

Per Dei amorem et per christiani populi et nostram communem salutem, ab hac die, quantum Deus scire et posse mini dat, servabo hunc meum fratrem Carolum

    Spoken Latin, Seventh Cent.

For deo amore et por chrestyano pob(o)lo et nostro comune salvamento de esto die en avante en quanto Deos sabere et podere me donat, sic salvarayo eo eccesto meon fradre Karlo

    Actual Text

Pro deo amur et pro christian poblo et nostro commun salvament, d’ist di en avant, in quant Deus savir et podir me dunat, si salvarai eo cist meon fradre Karlo

    French, Eleventh Cent.

Por dieu amor et por del crestueen poeple et nostre comun salvement, de cest jorn en avant, quant que Dieus saveir et podeir me donet, si salverai jo cest mien fredre Charlon

    French, Fifteenth Cent.

Pour l’amour Dieu et pour le sauvement du chrestien peuple et le nostre commun, de cest jour en avant, quant que Dieu savoir et pouvoir me done, si sauverai je cest mien frere Charle

    Modern French

Pour l’amour de Dieu et pour le salut commun du peuple chretien et le notre, a partir de ce jour, autant que Dieu m’en donne le savoir et le pouvoir, je soutiendrai mon frere Charles

The Poetry of the Common People of Rome

I. Their Metrical Epitaphs

The old village churchyard on a summer afternoon is a favorite spot with many of us.  The absence of movement, contrasted with the life just outside its walls, the drowsy humming of the bees in the flowers which grow at will, the restful gray of the stones and the green of the moss give one a feeling of peace and quiet, while the ancient dates and quaint lettering in the inscriptions carry us far from the hurry and bustle and trivial interests of present-day life.  No sense of sadness touches us.  The stories which the stones tell are so far removed from us in point of time that even those who grieved at the loss of the departed have long since followed their friends, and when we read the bits of life history on the crumbling monuments, we feel only that pleasurable emotion which, as Cicero says in one of his letters, comes from our reading in history of the little tragedies of men