Friday, June 1, 2012
Hora Mortis Incerta
Hora Mortis Incerta
Omnibus incertis nihil est incertius hora
Mortis, morte nihil certius esse potest.
Source: Florilegium Gottingense (ed. Voigt), 253. Meter: Elegiac.
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:
Among all uncertain things (omnibus incertis), there is nothing (nihil est) more uncertain (incertius) than the hour of death (hora mortis); nothing can be (nihil potest esse) more certain (certius) than death (morte).
incertus, -a, -um: uncertain, unsure
certus -a -um: sure, fixed; certē, certainly, surely
hōra -ae f.: hour
mors mortis f.: death
nihil, nīl: nothing; not at all
omnis -e: all, every, as a whole
possum posse potuī: be able
sum, esse, fuī: be, exist
