In volumine novo poetae multi versus de mari et vento leguntur.

The subject is multi versus: many verses.

You can tell because leguntur is third person plural passive: they are read. So we look for a nominative plural noun phrase, and multi versus fits that role.

A very literal structure is:

In volumine novo = in the new book
poetae = of the poet
multi versus = many verses
de mari et vento = about the sea and the wind
leguntur = are read

So the core idea is: many verses ... are read.

Because versus is a fourth-declension noun.

Its forms are unusual for English-speaking learners:

• singular nominative: versus
• plural nominative: versūs

When macrons are not written, both appear as versus, so the form looks ambiguous.

You know it must be plural here because:

• multi = many, which is plural
• leguntur = are read, also plural

So even though versus looks like singular in spelling without macrons, it is functioning as plural here.

Here poetae is genitive singular, meaning of the poet.

That is a very common use of the genitive: to show possession or association. So poetae versus means the poet's verses or verses of the poet.

A learner may wonder whether poetae could be nominative plural, poets. In isolation, yes, that form can mean either:

• genitive singular = of the poet
• nominative plural = poets

But in this sentence the rest of the grammar makes genitive singular the natural reading. Multi agrees with versus, not with poetae, and leguntur needs verses as the subject.

Because Latin word order is much freer than English word order.

Multi agrees with versus, not because it stands right beside it in English-style order, but because of its form and because of the sentence structure. Latin often separates words that belong together.

So poetae multi versus should be understood as:

many verses of the poet

not as:

many poets' verse or anything similar.

This kind of separation is very normal in Latin prose and poetry.

Because in with the ablative usually means in, on, or within a place where something is located.

So:

• volumen = volume, book, roll
• volumine = ablative singular, in the book / in the volume
• novo agrees with volumine, so in volumine novo = in the new book

A useful rule is:

• in + ablative = location, in/on
• in + accusative = motion into, into

Here there is no movement; it is just location, so the ablative is used.

They are both ablative singular because they depend on de.

The preposition de commonly takes the ablative and can mean:

• about
• concerning
• from / down from, depending on context

Here it means about:

• de mari = about the sea
• et vento = and the wind

So de mari et vento means about the sea and the wind.

It most naturally describes the verses.

So the sense is:

many verses of the poet about the sea and the wind are read

rather than:

many verses of the poet are read about the sea and the wind

Latin can sometimes leave this kind of relationship slightly less explicit than English, but here the normal interpretation is that the verses are about those subjects.

Leguntur is the passive form of legere.

• legit = he/she reads
• legunt = they read
• legitur = it is read
• leguntur = they are read

Latin often uses the passive when the focus is on the thing being read, rather than on the people doing the reading. In this sentence, the important thing is the verses, so the passive is natural.

English can do the same:

Many verses are read

though in ordinary English we might sometimes prefer something like people read many verses. Latin is perfectly comfortable with the passive here.

In Latin, adjectives can come before or after the nouns they modify.

So both of these are possible in principle:

• novo volumine
• volumine novo

Both mean new book / new volume, depending on context.

Latin word order is not fixed in the same way as English word order. Position can be influenced by style, emphasis, rhythm, and clarity, but the case endings are what show the grammatical relationships.

Here volumen means something like book, volume, or originally scroll/roll.

A Roman learner might think first of a rolled manuscript, since that is the older physical sense of the word. In many textbook sentences, though, it is easiest to translate it simply as book or volume.

So in volumine novo is naturally understood as in the new book.

A very literal unpacking would be:

In the new book of-the-poet many verses about the sea and the wind are read.

A smoother English version would be:

In the new book, many of the poet's verses about the sea and the wind are read.

This shows an important point: Latin does not need to follow English word order to make sense. The endings tell you how the words fit together.