Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Oculus Vitae Sapientia


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Oculus Vitae Sapientia
Est oculus nostrae felix sapientia vitae,
Qua sine vita hominum nubila, caeca, levis.


Source: Georgius Carolides (1569-1612), Farrago, 1.13. 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:

Wisdom is (est sapientia) the auspicious eye (oculus felix) of our life (nostrae vitae); without wisdom (qua sine), human life (vita hominum) would be cloudy, obscure, unreliable (nubila, caeca, levis).

nūbilus, -a, -um: cloudy, overcast

caecus -a -um: blind, unseeing; dark, obscure
fēlīx -īcis: lucky; adv. fēlīciter
homo hominis m.: human being
levis -e: light, trivial
noster nostra nostrum: our
oculus -ī m.: eye
qui quae quod: who, which, what / quis quid: who? what? which?
sapientia -ae f.: wisdom
sine: without (+ abl.)
sum, esse, fuī: be, exist
vīta -ae f.: life