Sunday, April 10, 2011

Nil Iratus Facies


677     -     678     -     679


Nil Iratus Facies
Nil umquam iratus facies; de litore nemo
Solvit, nimbosus cum freta ventus agit.


This little poem comes from Disticha de Educatione of Urbano Appendini, published in 1834; you can see the whole book at Google Books.

Don't ever do anything (nil umquam facies) when you are angry (iratus); no one sets sail (nemo solvit) from shore (de litore) when the stormy wind (cum nimbosus ventus) stirs the straits (freta agit).

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:

fretum (fretī, n.): sea, strait
nimbōsus, -a, -um: full of clouds, cloudy

agō agere ēgī āctum: drive, do, act
cum: with (prep. + abl.); when, since, although (conjunction + subj.)
dē: down from, about, concerning (+ abl.)
faciō facere fēcī factum: do, make
īrāscor īrāscī irātus sum: grow angry; īrātus -a -um: angry
lītus -oris n.: shore
nēmo: no one (gen. nullius, dat. nulli, abl. nullo or nulla > nullus -a -um)
nihil, nīl: nothing; not at all
solvō solvere solvī solūtum: release, set sail
umquam: ever
ventus -ī m.: wind