Monday, January 9, 2012

Et Profundissima Quaeque

Here is today's emblem and distich by Joachim Camerarius, 3.3. As Camerarius points out in his essay for this emblem, it is precisely because of its superlative perspicacity that the eagle has been a symbol of Roman emperors and so many other rulers and leaders.

Et Profundissima Quaeque
Sublimis volat, ima videt, regina volucrum.
Nonne vides, sit ut haec regis imago boni?



Here is the vocabulary:

et - and, also, even
profundus - deep
quisque - whatever, anything, each
sublimus - high, lofty
volo - fly
imus - deepest, bottommost
video - see
regina - queen
volucris - bird
nonne - question participle (anticipates "yes")
sum - be, exist
ut - so, so that, that, how
hic - this, this one
rex - king
imago - image
bonus - good