Hora Fugax
Temporis in mundo res nulla fugacior hora;
Quam cum praesentem credimus, illa fuit.
Source: Giuseppe Gatti, Sales Poetici, Proverbiales, et Iocosi (1703). Meter: Elegiac. Note the use of the ablative to express a comparison: hōrā.
In the world (in mundo) there is no thing (res nulla) more fleeting (fugacior) than an hour of time (temporis hora) which (quam) when we suppose it to be present (cum credimus praesentem), it has been (illa fuit) [and is not now].
Temporis in mundo res nulla fugacior hora;
Quam cum praesentem credimus, illa fuit.
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:
fugax (fugācis): swift, fleeting, transitory
crēdō crēdere crēdidī crēditum: believe
cum: with (prep. + abl.); when, since, although (conjunction + subj.)
hōra -ae f.: hour
ille illa illud: that
in: in, on (+ abl.); into, onto (+ acc)
mundus -ī m.: world, universe, heavens
nūllus -a -um: not any, no one
praesēns -ntis: present, in person, ready
qui quae quod: who, which, what / quis quid: who? what? which?
rēs reī f.: thing (rēs pūblica, commonwealth; rēs familiāris, family property, estate; rēs mīlitāris, art of war; rēs novae, revolution)
sum, esse, fuī: be, exist
tempus -oris n.: time
