Ubi sunt
Latin motif concerning mortality / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Ubi sunt (literally "where are they") is a rhetorical question taken from the Latin Ubi sunt qui ante nos fuerunt?, meaning "Where are those who were before us?" Ubi nunc...? ("Where now?") is a common variant.[1]
You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (March 2024) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
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Sometimes interpreted to indicate nostalgia, the ubi sunt motif is a meditation on mortality and life's transience.
Ubi sunt is a phrase which was originally derived from a passage in the book of Baruch (3:16–19) in the Vulgate Latin Bible beginning Ubi sunt principes gentium? "Where are the princes of the nations?" It became commonplace in medieval literature.