Without ever having had the privilege of corresponding with Eddie O'Hara personally, we are certainly kindred spirits. I also have dabbled in the translation of contemporary music into Latin in the hopes of making the study of the language more interesting to my students. Like him, I served my country in a war zone (I served in Iraq; Mr. O'Hara served in British occupied Cyprus and was the target of an attack, an irony since he would eventually champion the Greek Cypriot cause).
Since there is no evidence that anyone ever put Eddie O'Hara's translations to music, I decided that it was my duty to pay tribute to this great man by doing just that.
Below I offer a video which begins with a tribute to Eddie O'Hara, and then continues with a music video of "From Me to You," translation by the man himself and vocals and music performed by me. Following the video is a grammatical description of his translation. It is not woodenly literal, which I admit I tend toward in my own efforts, but delightfully dynamic.
I also invite you to learn more about Eddie O'Hara in the obituaries that major news venues published about him.
The Guardian
The Telegraph
The BBC
Tribute and Music Video of "From Me to You"
Grammatical Description of Eddie O'Hara's Translation
Latin
|
English
|
Parsing
|
Grammar Points
|
Si
|
If
|
Conj.
|
|
quid
|
anything
|
acc.
sing. neut. pronoun
|
aliquis,
aliquid; after “si” shortened to “quid”
|
habeo
|
I have
|
1st
pers. sing. pres. act. ind. verb
|
habeō, habēre, habuī, habitus
|
quod
|
which
|
acc.
sing. rel. pronoun
|
qui,
quae, quod
|
cupis
|
you want
|
2nd
pers. sing. pres. act. ind. verb
|
cupiō, cupere, cupīvī, cupītus
|
Si
|
If
|
Conj.
|
|
quid
|
anything
|
acc.
sing. neut. pronoun
|
aliquis,
aliquid; after “si” shortened to “quid”
|
opus
|
needful
|
acc.
sing. indecl. noun
|
opus
|
auxilii
|
of help
|
gen.
sing. neut. noun
|
auxilium,
auxilii
|
Vocanti
|
to the one calling
|
dat.
sing. pres. act. part.
|
vocō, vocāre, vocāvī, vocātus
|
me
|
me
|
acc.
sing. pronoun
|
ego,
mei
|
tibi
|
to you
|
dat.
sing. pronoun
|
tu,
tui
|
id
|
it
|
acc.
sing. neut. dem. adj.
|
is,
ea, id
|
mittam
|
I will send
|
1st
pers. sing. fut. ind. verb
|
mittō, mittere, mīsī, missus
|
Amore
|
With love
|
Abl.
sing. masc. noun
|
amor,
amoris
|
a
|
from
|
Pres.
+ Abl.
|
|
me
|
me
|
abl.
sing. pronoun
|
ego,
mei
|
tibi
|
to you
|
dat.
sing. pronoun
|
tu,
tui
|
Bracchia
|
Arms
|
nom.
pl. neut. noun
|
bracchium,
bracchii
|
volunt
|
want
|
3rd
pers. pl. pres. ind. verb
|
volō, velle, voluī
|
tenere
|
to hold
|
pres.
act. inf.
|
teneō, tenēre, tenuī
|
Te
|
You
|
acc.
sing. pronoun
|
tu,
tui
|
ne
|
so that not
|
conj.
|
|
tu
|
you
|
nom.
sing. pronoun
|
tu,
tui
|
abeas
|
(you) may go away
|
2nd
pers. sing. pres. act. subj. verb
|
abeō, abīre, abīvī, abitus
|
Et
|
And
|
Conj.
|
|
labra
|
lips
|
acc.
pl. neut. noun
|
labrum, labrī
|
basiare
|
to kiss
|
pres.
act. inf.
|
bāsiō, bāsiāre, bāsiāvī, bāsiātus
|
Dum
|
Until
|
Conj.
|
|
satis
|
enough
|
indeclinable
noun
|
|
habeas
|
you may have
|
2nd
pers. sing. pres. act. ind. verb
|
habeō, habēre, habuī, habitus
|
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