Ep. 4.20.1Quid sēnserim dē singulīs tuīs librīs, notum tibi ut quemque perlēgeram fēcī;What I thought of each of your books individually I let you know as I finished reading each one; Ep. 4.20.1accipe nunc quid dē ūniversīs generāliter iūdicem.now hear what I judge of them all in general. Ep. 4.20.2Est opus pulchrum validum ācre sublīme, varium ēlegāns pūrum figūrātum, spatiōsum etiam et cum magnā tuā laude diffūsum, in quō tū ingeniī simul dolōrisque vēlīs lātissimē vectus es;It is a work that is beautiful, strong, keen, sublime, varied, elegant, pure, rich in figures, ample too and spread out greatly to your credit, a work in which you have been borne along on the widest-spread sails of genius and grief together; Ep. 4.20.2et hōrum utrumque invicem adiūmentō fuit.and each of these has been a help to the other. Ep. 4.20.3Nam dolōrī sublīmitātem et magnificentiam ingenium, ingeniō vim et amāritūdinem dolor addidit.For genius added sublimity and grandeur to grief, and grief added force and bitterness to genius. Ep. 4.20.3Valē.Farewell.
Lectitō › Pliny the Younger › Letters, Book 4 › Pliny, Letter 4.20
Pliny · Epistulae IV
Pliny, Letter 4.20
Verdict on a friend's books
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Read in LectitōLatin vocabulary for this passage (54 words)
| quis, quid, interrog. pron. | who? which? what? |
| sentiō, sentīre, sēnsī, sēnsus | perceive, feel |
| dē, prep, with abl. | down from, from, out of; about, concerning, of |
| singulī, -ae, -a | one at a time, single |
| tuus, -a, -um | thy, thine, your |
| liber, librī m. | book; record |
| nōtus, -a, -um | known, well-known, famous |
| tū, tuī, pers. pron. | thou, you |
| ut, conj. | as; when; that; ita ut, as |
| quisque, quaeque, quidque, indef. pron. | each |
| perlegō, -ere, -lēgī, -lēctus | read through, read out |
| faciō, facere, fēcī, factus | make, do; iter facere, see iter |
| accipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptus | take to oneself, receive, accept; hear; suffer |
| nunc, adv. | now |
| ūniversus, -a, -um | all together, whole, entire, all |
| generāliter (adv.) | in general, as a whole |
| iūdicō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum | judge, decide |
| sum, esse, fuī, futūrus | be |
| opus, operis, n. | work, task |
| pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum | beautiful |
| validus, -a, -um | strong |
| ācer, ācris, ācre | sharp, shrill |
| sublīmis, -e | high, lofty; in sublīme: up on high |
| varius, -a, -um | various |
| ēlegāns, -antis | refined, tasteful, elegant |
| pūrus, -a, -um | clean, pure; (of land) clear, unbuilt |
| figūrō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | shape, fashion, form |
| spatiōsus, -a, -um | roomy, spacious |
| etiam, adv. | and now, also, too, even |
| et, conj. | and; et ... et, both ... and |
| cum, prep, with abl. | with |
| magnus, -a, -um | large, big, great, mighty; loud |
| laus, laudis f. | praise, glory |
| diffundō, -fundere, -fūdī, -fūsus | pour forth, spread or shed abroad, diffuse |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| ingenium, -ī n. | natural ability, talent, cleverness; character |
| simul, adv. | at the same time; simul atque or ac, as soon as |
| dolor, -ōris, m. | pain, grief; anger |
| que, enclitic conj. | and |
| vēlum, -ī n. | sail |
| lātē | widely |
| vehō, vehere, vexī, vectus | carry |
| hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron. | this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter |
| uterque, utraque, utrumque | each, either, both |
| invicem (adv.) | in turn, mutually; ad invicem: to one another |
| adiūmentum, -ī n. | help, aid, support |
| nam, conj. | for |
| sublīmitās, -ātis f. | height, loftiness; grandeur, exalted rank |
| magnificentia, -ae, f. | splendor, magnificence |
| vīs, vīs, f. | violence, force; virtue, potency, efficacy; plur. vīrēs, -ium, strength; omnibus vīribus, with all one's strength, with might and main |
| amāritūdō, -inis f. | bitterness; grief, anguish |
| addō, -ere, -didī, -ditus | add, put to |
| valeō, -ēre, -uī, -itūrus | be strong or effectual, have effect, prevail |
Pliny, Epistulae IV. Latin text: the Perseus digital text of Pliny's Letters, public domain; digital text from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA. Word analysis: drafted by our own tagger (trained on the hand-checked texts on this site), with every doubtful word checked by hand. English translation and section titles: written for this app, each checked against the Latin by a second reader.