Lingua Docet Quid Lateat
Sermo refert mores; animus sic proditur ore:
Quid lateat tacito pectore, lingua docet.
Source: Josephus Perez (1627-1694), Hortulus Carminum. Meter: Elegiac. Note the use of the subjunctive in an indirect question, introduced by the interrogative quid.
The vocabulary is keyed to the DCC Latin Vocabulary list. All the words in this poem are on that list:
Speech reveals character (sermo refert mores) the mind thus is made known by the mouth (animus sic proditur ore): what lies hidden in the silent breast (quid lateat tacito pectore), the tongue teaches (lingua docet).
animus -ī m.: spirit, mind
doceō -ēre -uī doctum: teach
lateō latēre latuī: lie hidden, be hidden
lingua -ae f.: tongue; language
mōs mōris m.: custom, habit; (pl.) character
ōs ōris n.: mouth, face
pectus -oris n.: chest, breast
prodō prodere prodidī proditum: publish, hand down; give over, betray
qui quae quod: who, which, what / quis quid: who? what? which?
referō -ferre -tulī -lātum: bring back; report
sermo -ōnis m.: conversation, discourse
sīc: in this manner, thus; sīc . . . ut: in the same way as
taceō -ēre -uī -itum: be silent; tacitus -a -um, silent
