Olim despecti...

Here is today's Rhyming Distich, and here are some more posts with Rhyming Distichs. This one comes from the Florilegium Gottingense edited by Voigt.

Olim despecti tenebantur multa loquentes;
Nunc sunt despecti sapientes pauca loquentes.


The vocabulary is keyed to the DCC Latin Vocabulary list. There is only one word in this poem that is not on the DCC list:

dēspicio, -ere, dēspexī, dēspectum - look down on, despise

loquor loquī locūtus sum: speak, talk
multus -a -um: much, many; multō, by far
nunc:  now
ōlim: formerly, at that time
paucī -ae -a: few
sapiens -ntis: wise, sensible
teneo -ēre -uī tentum: hold

(Know-Nothing Party)