The Titanic Disaster in Contemporary Latin Verse

[scrabulista]

https://fass.open.ac.uk/sites/fass.open.ac.uk/files/files/new-voices-journal/issue13/nicholas-de-sutter.pdf

One thing in this paper that caught my eye:

Proximus tibi, mi Deus,
Pervenire ego flagito!
Cordis questus hic est mei,
Atque hunc tu, Deus, audi!

Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Three!
E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me,
Still all my song shall be near, my God, to Thee
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

It's the wrong kind of cross, no?
I know giving imperatives to God has been discussed before.

 

[Pacifica]

It's the wrong kind of cross, no?

What do you mean?

I know giving imperatives to God has been discussed before.

There's nothing wrong with that; it's been done since the very beginning of Christianity (e.g. in the Lord's Prayer)—and, well, to pagan gods before that. I don't know if any theologian has ever thought it a problem (maybe a heretic at some point, who thought even the Lord's Prayer was wrong, lol).

 

[scrabulista]

I took line 2 as crux rather than pervenire.

There's nothing wrong with that; it's been done since the very beginning of Christianity

I recall someone raising the issue on this site -- I don't remember how it was answered.
It does seem to be a loose translation. There's also this one:

In articulo mortis
Caelitus mihi vires
Deo adjuvante non timendum
In perpetuum
Dirige nos domine
Ad augusta per angusta
Sic itur ad astra
Excelsior

 

[Notascooby]

Deorum iniuriae diis curae

 

[Pacifica]

I took line 2 as crux rather than pervenire.

Line 2 of the Latin has nothing to do with crosses or crossing. Proximus tibi, mi Deus, / pervenire ego flagito means "I am begging to come closest to thee".

It does seem to be a loose translation.

The only similarity bewteen the Latin and English stanzas is the common theme of coming close to God; apart from that, they aren't saying the same things.

 

[Pacifica]

Regarding imperatives, people sometimes have this misconception that imperatives are commands in the narrow sense of the word: a command issued by a person in authority, or by an arrogant person who thinks they are. That's why some people come up with ideas like "you can't address God with an imperative".

In reality, imperatives also work for requests, advice, and the like.

 

[scrabulista]

I was thinking pervenire was an attempt to translate E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me,

 

[Pacifica]

I got that from your last post.

But no, pervenire isn't an attempt to translate "cross". The line is just saying something completely different.