The phrase in ictu oculi is a Latin expression meaning "in the blink of an eye". One source is from the Bible, in 1 Corinthians 15:52: "In momento, in ictu oculi, in novissima tuba", translated in the KJV as "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump:"[1] where the Latin is itself a translation of the original Koine Greek phrase ἐν ῥιπῇ ὀφθαλμοῦ (en rhipēi ophthalmou).[2] The phrase was used by Henry of Huntingdon on the rapid submission to the coronation of Stephen of England in 1135: Sine mora, sine labore, quasi in ictu oculi.[3][4] It also appears as part of the text to a motet by Antoine Busnois entitled "Gaude celestis Domina".[5]
The most notable use of the phrase in an English text is that by John Donne: which shall be found alive upon the earth, we say there shall be a sudden death, and a sudden resurrection; In raptu, in transitu, in ictu oculi, where Donne gives an English-Latin paraphrase on the original context in 1 Corinthians 15.[6][7]
- ^ 1 Cor. 15:52, King James Version. Bible Gateway.
- ^ 1 Cor. 15:52, SBL Greek New Testament. Bible Gateway.
- ^ Roger, of Hoveden; Stubbs, William (1868). Chronica magistri Rogeri de Houedene Roger (of Hoveden). London: Longman. p. 256. OCLC 1925703.
Hoc vero signum malum fuit, quod tarn reponte omnis Anglia sine mora, sine labore, quasi in ictu oculi ei subjecta est.
- ^ Chartrou-Charbonnel, Josèphe (1928). L'Anjou de 1109 à 1151: Foulque de Jérusalem et Geoffroi Plantegenêt. Paris: Presses universitaires de France. OCLC 489975802.
Henri de Huntingdon ... indique que l'Angleterre se soumit très rapidement « sine mora, sine labore, quasi in ictu oculi ».
- ^ ""The Ambassadors", Texts and English Translations" (PDF). The Orlando Consort. p. 1. Retrieved 2012-05-26.
- ^ Donne, John; Potter, George R.; Simpson, Evelyn M. (1984) [1953]. The Sermons of John Donne. Vol. 2. University of California Press. p. 73.
- ^ Donne, John; Alford, Henry (1839). The Works of John Donne: With a Memoir of His Life. London: Parker. p. 336.
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