During the 15th through 17th centuries, a popular custom in England and France was to give a posie ring. A posie ring is a ring with a small inscription engraved upon its surface, usually given as a token of love or affection. It was not until later that custom moved the inscription to the inners circumference of the ring, and even that custom is falling out of favour in these modern times.
These inscriptions usually came in the form of a snippet of verse, or short poem written in either Norman French (the earliest), then later French, English or Latin. Personally speaking, there is something about declaring your love in a dead language such as Latin that just can’t be beat. I recently took a trip over to InRebus.com to look up some Latin love phrases that might be suitable for inscription on a ring for Dawne, to be given to her on our 25th anniversary and subsequent renewal of our vows. Here are a few that I came up with:
- Amor animi arbitrio sumitur, non ponitur - We choose to love, we do not choose to cease loving. (Syrus)
- Amor est vitae essentia - Love is the essence of life. (Robert B. Mackay)
- Amor vincit omnia - Love conquers all.
- Ad vitam aeternam - For all time
- Ad vitam - For life
- Nec mortem effugere quisquam nec amorem potest - No one is able to flee from death or love
- Omnia vincit amor; et nos cedamus amori - Love conquers all things; let us too surrender to love. (Vergil)
- Quos amor verus tenuit, tenebit - True love will hold on to those whom it has held. (Seneca)
- Si vis amari, ama - If you wish to be loved, love. (Seneca)
- Ubi amor, ibi oculus - Where love is, there is insight
- Ut ameris, ama! - To be loved, love!
- Vincit omnia amor - Love conquers all
- Ex amore vita - From love, life
- Amor ergo sum - I love therefore I am
The second to last I created from the Latin Motto Generator, (which you can use to create your own Latin motto) and the last one I invented by substituting the word for think (cogito) with the word for love (amor). I have no idea if it is grammatically correct, but insofar as I am concerned, it’s the cogito that counts anyway. We have a couple of years to sort it all out, so I’m not too worried about it.
Whatever language you prefer, inscribing your sentiments into a ring or locket is a wonderful way to remind your special someone of your love for them.
6 users commented in " How To Make a Posie Ring "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackHow beatiful. These three phrases were my favorite because they were open hearted and LOVING.
Amor est vitae essentia - Love is the essence of life. (Robert B. Mackay)
Si vis amari, ama - If you wish to be loved, love. (Seneca)
Amor ergo sum - I love therefore I am
I think it is a lovely gift you give your wife.
And I am touched by your sharing.
I think “Ad vitam” is my favorite of the group - they’re all beautifu though!
it will be that we can summarize our feelings for a person through a ring?
I am delighted to see your interest in Latin mottos. Regarding “Amor ergo sum” I must say that although grammatically correct the phrase means something slightly different: I am loved, therefore I am. Amor is a passive form. The resulting phrase, of course, is no less profound, if not more so.In case you want to say “I love” you can use ‘amo’.
I think I like the correct meaning better, thanks for dropping by
Tom: summarize? I suppose if you’re terse
A ring doesn’t leave you much room to fully express your feelings, but something short and to the point could express the most important aspects nicely.
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