Sunday, July 15, 2012

Vita Quae Praeteriit


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Vita Quae Praeteriit
Nec quae praeteriit rursum revocabitur unda,
Nec quae praeteriit vita redire potest.


Source: Giuseppe Gatti, Sales Poetici, Proverbiales, et Iocosi (1703). Meter: Elegiac. Note that in both statements, the referent follows the relative pronoun: [unda] quae and [vita] quae.

The wave (unda) that has passed by (quae praeteriit) cannot ever be called back (nec rursum revocabitur), nor can life come back (nec vita redire potest) which has passed by (quae praeteriit).

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:

praetereō, praeterīre, praeteriī: pass, go by

neque nec: and not, nor; neque . . . neque, neither . . . nor
possum posse potuī: be able
qui quae quod: who, which, what / quis quid: who? what? which?
redeō -īre -iī -itum: go back, return
revocō -āre: call back, recall
rūrsus: back, again
unda -ae f.: wave, flowing water, water
vīta -ae f.: life