Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Deus


435     -     436     -     437


Here is today's distich by John Owen, with an English translation by Thomas Harvey, 9.3. Here the paradox is a divine one: God sees all and is unseen; he is both ever-present and ever-hidden!

Deus
Omnia cum videat, nulli Deus ipse videtur,
Solus ubique patet, solus ubique latet.


GOD
God in all things sees, and yet is seen of none;
Sole in all places seen, unseen alone.

The vocabulary is keyed to the DCC Latin Vocabulary list. There is only one word in this poem that is not on the DCC list:

ubīque - anywhere, everywhere, always

cum: with (prep. + abl.); when, since, although (conjunction + subj.)
deus -ī m.; dea -ae f. god; goddess
ipse, ipsa, ipsum: him- her- itself
lateo -ēre latuī: lie hidden, be hidden
nūllus -a -um: not any, no one
omnis -e: all, every, as a whole
pateo -ēre patuī: lie open, extend, spread
sōlus -a -um: only, alone; sōlum (adv.), only, merely
video -ēre vīdī vīsum: see