Clepsydra

Here is today's distich by John Owen, with an English translation by Thomas Harvey, 2:202. Although Owen uses the word clepsydra, he is clearly talking about an hourglass with sand running through it. Clepsydra is a Greek word, "thief of water," cleps- and -hydra.

Clepsydra
Clepsydra mentitur verissima: nempe foramen
Tempore fit semper maius, arena minor.

AN HOUR-GLASS
False is the truest Hour-glass: for with use
The Sand wears smaller, wider grows the Sluce.

Here is the vocabulary:

clepsydra - water-clock, hourglass
mentior - lie
verus - true
nempe - truly, certainly
foramen - hole
tempus - time
fio - become
semper - always
maior - greater
arena (harena) - sand
minor - smaller

(Ambrogio Lorenzetti)