Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Usus Moderatus

This little poem is from Giuseppe Gatti's Sales Poetici, Proverbiales, et Iocosi, published in 1703.

Usus Moderatus
Utere divitiis, prudenter at utere partis;
Non malus est usus, si moderatus, opum.

The vocabulary is keyed to the DCC Latin Vocabulary list. There are two words in this poem that are not on the DCC list:

moderātus, -a, -um: limited, bounded, moderated
prūdenter: wisely, cautiously, carefully

at: but, but yet
dīvitiae -ārum f. pl.: riches, wealth
malus -a -um: bad, evil; male: (adv.) badly
nōn: not
ops opis f.: assistance, resources
pariō parere peperī partum: bring forth, give birth to; accomplish
sī: if
sum, esse, fuī: be, exist
ūsus -ūs m.: use, experience
ūtor ūtī ūsus sum: use