This poem is from a book published in 1624 by Jean Pignewart (Iohannes Pignevvart), a Cistercian monk and scholar. He attributes his collection of distich poetry to "Cato Bernardinus," invoking both the legendary "Cato" of Latin distich fame and also Saint Bernard of Clairveax who was famously associated with the Cistercian order.
Mortis Incursus
Quo magis incursus mortis nescitur ab ullo,
Hoc homo plus timeat, se meliusque paret.
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:
incursus (incursūs, m.): assault, attack, rushing into
ā ab abs: from, by (+abl.)
hic haec hoc: this; hōc: on this account
homo hominis m.: human being
magis: more
melior -ius: better
mors mortis f.: death
nesciō -scīre: not know, be ignorant
parō -āre: prepare, acquire; parātus -a -um, ready
plūs plūris n.: a greater amount or number, more
que (enclitic) - and
qui quae quod: who, which, what / quis quid: who? what? which?
sui, sibi, sē: him- her- itself
timeō -ēre -uī: to fear, to dread
ūllus -a -um: any, anyone
