Laudator Temporis Acti

Matthew Hale (1609-1676), paraphrase of Seneca, Thyestes 391-403, in Contemplations Moral and Divine (London: Printed for William Shrowsbury, 1699), p. 158:

Let him that will, ascend the tott'ring Seat
Of Courtly Grandeur, and become as great
As are his mounting Wishes; as for me,
Let sweet Repose, and rest my portion be;
Give me some mean obscure Recess; a Sphere
Out of the Road of Business, or the fear
Of falling lower, where I sweetly may
My self and dear Retirement still enjoy:
Let not my Life, or Name, be known unto
The Grandees of the Times, tost to and fro
By Censures, or Applause; but let my Age
Slide gently by, not overthwart the Stage
Of Publick Action; unheard, unseen,
And unconcerned, as if I ne'er had been.
And thus while I shall pass my silent days
In shady Privacy, free from the Noise
And bustles of the World, then shall I
A good old Innocent Plebeian die.
Death is a meer surprize, a very Snare
To him that makes it his lifes greatest care
To be a publick Pageant, known to All,
But unacquainted with Himself doth fall.

Seneca's Latin:

Stet quicumque volet potens
aulae culmine lubrico:
me dulcis saturet quies.
obscuro positus loco
leni perfruar otio,
nullis nota Quiritibus
aetas per tacitum fluat.
sic cum transierint mei
nullo cum strepitu dies,
plebeius moriar senex.
illi mors gravis incubat
qui, notus nimis omnibus,
ignotus moritur sibi.

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• Beatus Ille
• The Fall of Princes
• In Leisure and Obscurity
• In Calm Leisure Let Me Rest