Quicquid agit quoquo vestigil vertit, Componit furtim

[STML]

My old Latin teacher would kill me for this, but I would greatly appreciate a translation of the following:

Quicquid agit quoquo vestigil vertit, Componit furtim, subsequiturque decor.

It is Tibullus, apparently, quoted by William Hazlitt in his Liber Amoris. I am preparing a new edition and I'm ashamed to say I can't do it myself.

Thanks in advance. Credit given in edition if I use your translation!

 

[Cato]

Re: Idiot publisher needs one-line translation help

My old Latin teacher would kill me for this, but I would greatly appreciate a translation of the following:

Quicquid agit quoquo vestigil vertit, Componit furtim, subsequiturque decor.

There seems to be a MSS problem here; the Latin Library lists these verses (Tibullus 3.8.7-8) as:

(Illam), quidquid agit, quoquo vestigia movit,
componit furtim subsequiturque Decor.

"Whatever she does, wherever she moves her steps, Beauty does secretly arrange and pursue."

The version the OP posts is indeed the quote found in the onlineLiber Amoris written by the 19th century English essayist William Hazlitt. But as Mr. Hazlitt would no doubt point out the quote is not in Latin (e.g. vestigil is not a Latin word). I suspect an optical scan error at least with the Liber Amoris text I found on-line.

 

[STML]

I did think it looked odd - thank you for that. I am working from what I think is an OCR'd version and it's riddled with little errors, so will correct the Latin - and provide the translation in a footnote.