Wednesday, December 08, 2021
No Escape
Horace, Satires 2.6.83-97 (tr. Steele Commager):
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Seize the path, comrade, believe me. Since all terrestrial creaturesIn line 95, quo ... circa is tmesis of quocirca, and in line 97, aevi brevis is genitive of description (βραχύβιος).
are fated to mortality, and since there is no
escape from death for either great or small, then, good friend,
while it is permitted, live happily among pleasant surroundings;
and live ever mindful of how brief is your span.
carpe viam, mihi crede, comes, terrestria quando
mortalis animas vivunt sortita neque ulla est
aut magno aut parvo leti fuga: quo, bone, circa, 95
dum licet, in rebus iucundis vive beatus,
vive memor, quam sis aevi brevis.
