cupio, -ere, -ivi, -itum
desire, long for; the subject is quae.

aevum, -i n.
period; age; lifetime; eternity. The placement of longo before the caesura creates internal rhyme.

ante preposition with the accusative
before.

quater adverb
four times; together with lustrum, a poetic rendering of Anicia’s age.

plēnus, a, um
full; complete. Note the rhyme with lustrum.

consumo, -ere, -sumpsi, -sumptum
consume; take completely; omnia is the direct object of the verb.

lustrum, -i n.
lustrum; five year period (four years of the Julian calendar). Thus Anicia was either not quite 16 or not quite 20. A lustrum was the expiatory offerings made for the whole people by the censors at the end of their term of office; object of ante.

infans, -ntis m. f.
babe; infant (= one not able to speak). These stages of female life are in apposition to Anicia, who is the subject of all the verbs.

lacto, (1)
suck milk; take the breast.

pubes, -eris
adult; pubescent; mature. The adjective can be considered a substantive noun or descriptive of virgo.

adolesco, -ere, -levi, adultum
come to maturity; ripen; grow up. The asyndeton in lines 3-4 gives a sense of the swiftness of her life course from lactavit to obivit. 

nubo, -ere, nupsi, nuptum
veil herself (for the bridegroom); be married; marry, wed.

concipio, , -ere, cepi, ceptum
conceive (physical and mental); imagine, understand.

pario, -ere, peperi, par(i)tum
give birth; to bear, bring forth

obeo, -ire, ivi, itum
die; fall; go to meet. It is possible that Anicia died in childbirth.

accuso (1)
reproach; blame; call to account. Both are deliberative subjunctives, with mortem as their direct object. The anaphora (lines 5-6) and the rhetorical questions that split the line convey the sadness of Anicia's short life.

iste, -a, -ud
this/that one/thing; he/she/it. The form may be ablative singular or accusative plural: try both and choose.

aetas, -tatis f.
time of life; age.

meritum, -i n.
benefit; service; favor; translate as an ablative of respect. Note the interlocking order of nominatives and ablatives.

anus, -us f.
old woman; a predicate nominative with Anicia as the subject of est (note the use of the present tense).

Close this window after final use.