Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Via Mortis
Via Mortis
Mors te certa manet, sed qua ventura sit hora,
Incertum, vel qua sit tibi eunda via.
Source: Giuseppe Gatti, Sales Poetici, Proverbiales, et Iocosi (1703). 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:
Death certainly awaits you (mors certa te manet), but it is uncertain (sed incertum) at what time (qua hora) it will come (ventura sit), or what way (vel qua via) you will have to go (tibi eunda).
incertus, -a, -um: uncertain, unsure
certus -a -um: sure, fixed; certē, certainly, surely
eo īre iī/īvī itum: go
hōra -ae f.: hour
maneō manēre mānsī mānsum: remain
mors mortis f.: death
qui quae quod: who, which, what / quis quid: who? what? which?
sed: but
tū tuī tibi tē: you (sing.)
vel: or else, or; even; vel . . . vel: either… or
veniō venīre vēnī ventum: come
via -ae f.: way, street
