They
Are Not Long
by Ernest Dowson
Vitae summa brevis
spem nos vetat incohare longam.
They are not long, the weeping and the laughter,
Love and desire and hate;
I think they have no portion in us after
We pass the gate.
They are not long, the days of wine and roses,
Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for a while, then closes
Within a dream.
They are not long, the weeping and the laughter,
Love and desire and hate;
I think they have no portion in us after
We pass the gate.
They are not long, the days of wine and roses,
Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for a while, then closes
Within a dream.
The Latin reads, “The shortness of life prevents us from entertaining far-off hopes.”
Horace, (Odes
1.4.15).
Image: “The path
at the Hermitage” by Casey Wolf
