Sunday, July 31, 2011

Umbra Fugax


472     -     473     -     474


This is from The Book of Sun-Dials by Mrs. Alfred Gatty [aka Margaret Scott Gatty], which you can read online at this University of Pennsylvania website.

Umbra Fugax
Itque reditque viam constans quam suspicis umbra;
Umbra fugax homines non reditura sumus.


The vocabulary is keyed to the DCC Latin Vocabulary list. There are two words in this poem that are not on the DCC list:

fugax (fugācis): swift, fleeting, transitory
suspiciō, suspicere: look up at

cōnstō -stāre -stitī: agree; constat, it is established that (+ infin.)
eo īre iī/īvī itum: go
homo hominis m.: human being
que (enclitic) - and
qui quae quod: who, which, what / quis quid: who? what? which?
redeō -īre -iī -itum: go back, return
sum, esse, fuī: be, exist
umbra -ae f.: shade, shadow
via -ae f.: way, street