Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Omnia Quaerens
Omnia Quaerens
Amittit totum qui mittit ad omnia votum;
Omnia qui quaerit, omnibus orbus erit.
Source:Proverbia Rusticorum Versificata (ed. Zacher), 69. Meter: Elegiac. Note the rhymes: totum-votum and quaerit-erit. This poem reminds me of the Aesopic fable of the dog and his shadow, so I've used that as the illustration below.
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:
He who pins his hopes (quit mittit votum) on getting everything (ad omnia), loses it all (amittit totum); he who wants everything (qui quaerit omnia), will be bereft of everything (erit orbus omnibus).
orbus, -a, -um: bereft, deprived
ad: to, up to, towards (+acc.)
āmitto -mittere -mīsī -missum: let go, send away
mitto -ere mīsī missum: send, let go
omnis -e: all, every, as a whole
quaero -ere -sīvī -situm: seek, inquire
qui, quae, quod: who, which, what; quis quid: who? what? which?
sum, esse, fuī: be, exist
tōtus -a -um: whole, entire
votum -ī n.: solemn promise, vow; hope
