Malus Potentiae Custos Metus
Quam metuunt multi, non est diuturna potestas,
Nam quod quisque timet, perdere quisque cupit.
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:
diūturnus, -a, -um: long-lasting
potentia (potentiae, f.): power, authority
cupiō -ere -īvī -ītum: desire
cūstōs, cūstōdis m.: guardian
malus -a -um: bad, evil; male: (adv.) badly
metuō metuere metuī: to fear, to dread
metus -ūs m.: fear, dread
multus -a -um: much, many; multō, by far
nam or namque: for, indeed, really
nōn: not
perdō -dere -didī -ditum: destroy
potestās -ātis f.: power
qui quae quod: who, which, what / quis quid: who? what? which?
quis- quae- quidque: each one, everyone
sum, esse, fuī: be, exist
timeō -ēre -uī: to fear, to dread
