They are the tears of things, and they touch the mortal minds is the English equivalent of 'Sunt lacrimae rerum et mentium mortalibus tangunt'. In the word by word translation, the verb 'sunt' means '[they] are'. The noun 'lacrimae' means 'tears [from the eye]'. The noun 'rerum' means 'of things'. The conjunction 'et' means 'and'. The noun 'mentium' means 'minds'. The adjective 'mortalibus' means 'mortal'. The verb 'tangunt' means '[they] are touching, do touch, touch'.