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.
Mortuum Flere Quid?
Functum flere quid est, hominem nisi flere fuisse?
Debemur morti, condicione pari.
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:
functus = dēfunctus, -a, -um: dead, deceased
condīcio -ōnis f.: agreement, condition
dēbeō dēbēre dēbuī dēbitum: owe, be obliged
fleō flēre flēvī flētum: weep
homo hominis m.: human being
mors mortis f.: death
nisi/nī: if not, unless
pār paris: equal
qui quae quod: who, which, what / quis quid: who? what? which?
sum, esse, fuī: be, exist
