“Pulvis et umbra sumus” closes a sentence in Horace’s Odes 4.7, the poem that begins Diffugere nivēs. The moons restore their losses in the heavens, but we, once we have fallen to where dutiful Aeneas and wealthy Tullus and Ancus are, are dust and shadow.
You will also see it written “sumus pulvis et umbra” or “umbra et pulvis sumus”. Latin word order is flexible, but this is how Horace’s line runs, with the verb last and pulvis et umbra as the predicate.
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Horace · Odes 4.7
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Pulvisdustumbrashadow
