Friday, January 20, 2012

Transeat

Here is today's emblem and distich by Gabriel Rollenhagen, Book 1.20, with an English rendering by George Wither. What a great emblem for a rainy day! Note also the allusion to Catullus's famous poem, VIII: obstinata mente perfer, obdura.

Transeat
Perfer et obdura: tempestas transeat olim,
Fulgebit puro laetior axe dies.


A Sive, of shelter maketh show;
But ev'ry Storme will through it goe.


Here is the vocabulary:

transeo - pass by
perfero - bear, bear up, endure
et - and
obduro - persist, endure, be hard
tempestas - storm, trouble
olim - once, in the future
fulgeo - shine, glow, be bright
purus - clear
laetus - happy
axis - axis, sky, clime
dies - day