Sunday, August 07, 2016

 

A Matter of Life and Death

Amphis, fragment 8 (tr. S. Douglas Olson):
Drink! Have fun! Life's mortal, and our time on earth's limited;
whereas death's immortal, once you're dead.

πῖνε, παῖζε· θνητὸς ὁ βίος, ὀλίγος οὑπὶ γῇ χρόνος·
ἀθάνατος ὁ θάνατός ἐστιν, ἂν ἅπαξ τις ἀποθάνῃ.
Is this the fragment behind Tony Harrison's quatrain "after Amphis"?
One glass and no refill
is life for men,
so keep on pouring till
Death says when.

# posted by Michael Gilleland @ 6:31 AM


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