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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.

- Ernest Dowson

[The title translates, from the Latin, as
'The brief sum of life forbids us the hope of enduring long' and is from a work by Horace]

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 15th, 2008 at 9:25 pm and is filed under poem. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

2 Responses to “Vitae Summa Brevis Spem Nos Vetat Incohare Longam”

  1. vnseetharam naidu Says:
    November 17th, 2008 at 11:09 am

    A brief and poignant poem reminding us of Robert Herrick
    It is also a gentle nudge to remember that joys and sorrows have their play too. Finally all this drama ends
    there isn’t even memory of the pain or pleasure once we are gone

  2. Riccardo Bacon Says:
    December 6th, 2009 at 2:46 am

    Brevity, poem and life. Perhaps a perspective from one side. The other (others) await.