Laudator Temporis Acti

[1] For they said to themselves, reasoning in their faulted way: our life is short and full of trouble; there is no remedy at man's end, and no one has been known to have returned from the grave.

[2] By mere chance did we come to be, and thereafter we shall be as though we had never been, for the breath in our nostrils is but a puff of smoke; our reason is a mere spark within our throbbing heart,

[3] and when that is extinguished, our body will turn to ashes, and our life breath will be scattered like thin air.

[4] Our name will be forgotten with the passage of time, and none will recall our deeds; our life will be gone like the traces of a cloud and dispersed as mist, pursued by the sun's rays and overborne by its heat.

[5] For our time is the passing of a shadow, and there is no reversal of our end; it has been sealed, and none overturns it.

[6] Come then, let us enjoy the good things at hand, and make use of creation with youthful zest.

[7] Let us take our fill of costly wine and perfumes, and let no spring blossom pass us by.

[8] Let us crown ourselves with rosebuds before they wither.

[9] Let no meadow fail to share in our revelry, let us everywhere leave tokens of our merriment, for this is our portion and our birthright.