Here is another distich by John Owen, with an English translation by Thomas Harvey, 3.137:
Regnum Caelorum
Regnum caelorum, quo non patet amplius ullum,
Cur ad tam paucos pertinet? Arcta via est.
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
Why do so few the Kingdom gain of Heaven?
Because the way’s so strait, uncouth, uneven.
Why do so few the Kingdom gain of Heaven?
Because the way’s so strait, uncouth, uneven.
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:
arctus, -a, -um - close, tight, strict
ad: to, up to, towards (+acc.)
amplus -a -um: large, spacious
caelum -ī n.: sky, heavens
cūr: why?
nōn: not
pateō patēre patuī: lie open, extend, spread
paucī -ae -a: few
pertineō -tinēre -tinuī: tend to, refer to, pertain to, be the business of
qui quae quod: who, which, what / quis quid: who? what? which?
rēgnum -ī n.: kingship, kingdom
sum, esse, fuī: be, exist
tam: so
ūllus -a -um: any, anyone
via -ae f.: way, street
