Saturday, June 18, 2016

4. Dies Longa


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Dies Longa
Omnia fert aetas; naturam, nomina, formam
   Fortunamque solet vertere longa dies.


Source: Hugo Grotius (1583-1645), Anthologia Graeca, vol. I. The Greek poem is attributed to Plato (Αἰὼν πάντα φέρει· δολιχὸς χρόνος οἶδεν ἀμείβειν / οὔνομα καὶ μορφὴν καὶ φύσιν ἠδὲ τύχην). Meter: Elegiac. Compare also the famous words of Vergil in Eclogue 9: Omnia fert aetas.

Age carries off all things (omnis fert aetas); nature, names, beauty and fortune (naturam, nomina, formam Fortunamque) - the long day (longa dies) is wont to overturn them (solet vertere).

The vocabulary is keyed to the DCC Latin Vocabulary list. All the words in this poem are on that list:

aetās -tātis f.: age, time of life
diēs diēī m./f.: day
ferō ferre tulī lātum: bear, carry
fōrma -ae f.: shape; beauty
fortūna -ae f.: fortune
longus -a -um: long, far; longē: far, far off
nātūra -ae f.: nature
nōmen -inis n.: name
omnis -e: all, every, as a whole
que (enclitic) - and
soleō -ēre -uī -itum: be accustomed
vertō vertere vertī versum: turn