Monday, July 16, 2012

Dies Clarissima


138     -     139     -     140


Dies Clarissima
Nulla dies umquam debet clarissima dici
Donec ad occasum sol revocatus erit.


Source: Anton Moker (1540-1605), Decalogus Metricus. Meter: Elegiac. Compare the saying about a man's life: Nemo ante obitum beatus, "No one can be called happy before his death."

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:

No day (nulla dies) should ever be called (umquam debet dici) perfectly clear (clarissima) until (donec) the sun (sol) has been called back (revocatus erit) to its setting (ad occasum).

occāsus (occāsūs, m.): falling, going down, setting

ad: to, up to, towards (+acc.)
clārus -a -um: clear, distinguished
dēbeō dēbēre dēbuī dēbitum: owe, be obliged
dīcō dīcere dīxī dictum: say; causam dicere, plead a case; diem dicere, appoint a day
diēs diēī m./f.: day
dōnec: until
nūllus -a -um: not any, no one
revocō -āre: call back, recall
sōl sōlis m.: sun
sum, esse, fuī: be, exist
umquam: ever