Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Contentus, Meliora Require


219     -     220     -     221


Contentus, Meliora Require
Fac contentus eo, quod contigit, usque fruaris:
Sic tamen, ut nunquam meliora requirere parcas.


Source: Marcus Antonius Muretus (1526-1585), Juvenilia. Meter: Dactylic Hexameter. The idea here is to satisfied with what you have - but don't be complacent! You always have to be on the look-out for something better, too.

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:

requīrō, requīrere: seek again, search for, demand

contineō -tinēre -tinuī -tentum: contain, restrain
contingō -tingere -tigī -tactum: touch, be contiguous to
faciō facere fēcī factum: do, make
fruor fruī frūctus sum: enjoy
is ea id: he, she, it
melior -ius: better
numquam: never
parcō parcere pepercī: spare, be sparing of (+ dat.)
qui quae quod: who, which, what / quis quid: who? what? which?
sīc: in this manner, thus; sīc . . . ut: in the same way as
tamen: nevertheless, still
ūsque: up to; continuously
ut, uti: as (+ indic.); so that, with the result that (+ subj.)