Pons Antiquus

Today I decided to translate the "London Bridge Is Falling Down" nursery rhyme into Latin. Some of you may know only the first few lines of this rhyme; when I was little, that was all I ever heard. But it is actually a really great chain-tale nursery rhyme, so before you read the Latin, you might want to read this English version (there are lots of different versions!):

London Bridge is falling down,

Falling down, falling down.

London Bridge is falling down,

My fair lady.

London Bridge is broken down,

Broken down, broken down.

London Bridge is broken down,

My fair lady.

Build it up with wood and clay,

Wood and clay, wood and clay,

Build it up with wood and clay,

My fair lady.

Wood and clay will wash away,

Wash away, wash away,

Wood and clay will wash away,

My fair lady.

Build it up with bricks and mortar,

Bricks and mortar, bricks and mortar,

Build it up with bricks and mortar,

My fair lady.

Bricks and mortar will not stay,

Will not stay, will not stay,

Bricks and mortar will not stay,

My fair lady.

Build it up with iron and steel,

Iron and steel, iron and steel,

Build it up with iron and steel,

My fair lady.

Iron and steel will bend and bow,

Bend and bow, bend and bow,

Iron and steel will bend and bow,

My fair lady.

Build it up with silver and gold,

Silver and gold, silver and gold,

Build it up with silver and gold,

My fair lady.

Silver and gold will be stolen away,

Stolen away, stolen away,

Silver and gold will be stolen away,

My fair lady.

Set a man to watch all night,

Watch all night, watch all night,

Set a man to watch all night,

My fair lady.

Suppose the man should fall asleep,

Fall asleep, fall asleep,

Suppose the man should fall asleep?

My fair lady.

Give him a pipe to smoke all night,

Smoke all night, smoke all night,

Give him a pipe to smoke all night,

My fair lady.

from Walter Crane's Baby's Bouquet

Writing my Latin version, I didn't stick to the exact words, but I followed the same pattern, although I made mine circular! I'm pretty proud of that; circular chain-tales are my favorites.

Pons antiquus labitur

Labitur labitur.

Pons antiquus labitur:

Quid faciemus?

Lignum mox supponatur, 

Suponatur supponatur.

Lignum mox supponatur

Ut pons servetur!

Lignum non est stabile,

Stabile stabile.

Lignum non est stabile:

Quid faciemus?

Saxa etiam addantur,

Addantur addantur.

Saxa etiam addantur

Ut pons servetur!

Saxa raptim labentur

Labentur labentur.

Saxa raptim labentur:

Quid faciemus?

Argillam tunc addemus, 

Addemus addemus.

Argillam tunc addemus, 

Ut pons servetur!

Aqua eam rapiet

Rapiet rapiet.

Aqua eam rapiet:

Quid faciemus?

Auro ergo utamur,

Utamur utamur.

Auro ergo utamur,

Ut pons servetur!

Fures aurum rapient, 

Rapient rapient.

Fures aurum rapient:

Quid faciemus?

Vigilemus noctibus,

Noctibus noctibus.

Vigilemus noctibus

Ut pons servetur!

Nunc dormire volumus,

Volumus volumus.

Nunc dormire volumus:

Quid faciemus?

Dormiamus diebus

Diebus diebus.

Dormiamus diebus

Ut pons servetur!

Oculos nunc claudimus

Claudimus claudimus.

Oculos nunc claudimus

Ut dormiamus!

Nos in somnum labimur

Labimur labimur.

Nos in somnum labimur:

Dormimus omnes!

Here's a literal translation of the Latin:

The old bridge is slipping...

    Pons antiquus labitur...

What are we going to do?

    Quid faciemus?

Quickly wood should be placed below...

    Lignum mox supponatur...

In order to save the bridge!

    Ut pons servetur!

The wood is not stable...

    Lignum non est stabile,

    

Rocks should also be added...

    Saxa etiam addantur...

The rocks will suddenly slide...

    Saxa raptim labentur...

Then let us add clay...

    Argillam tunc addemus...

The water will carry it away...

    Aqua eam rapiet...

Therefore let us use gold...

    Auro ergo utamur... 

Thieves will steal the gold...

    Fures aurum rapient...

Let us keep watch by night...

    Vigilemus noctibus...!

Now we want to sleep...

    Nunc dormire volumus...

Let us sleep by day...

    Dormiamus diebus...

We are closing our eyes now...

    Oculos nunc claudimus...

We are slipping into sleep...

    Nos in somnum labimur...

We are all sleeping!

    Dormimus omnes!