Leuconoe, don't ask — it's forbidden to know —
what end the gods will give me or you.
Don't play with Babylonian fortune-telling either.
Better just deal with whatever comes your way.
Whether you'll see several more winters or whether the last one
Jupiter gives you is the one even now pelting the rocks on the shore with the waves
be smart, drink your wine.
Scale back your long hopes to a short period.
Even as we speak, envious time is running away from us.
Seize the day, for in the future you can believe the minimum.
***
to the virgins, to make much of time
robert herrick
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today,
To-morrow will be dying.
The glorious lamp of heaven, the Sun,
The higher he's a-getting;
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he's to setting.
That age is best, which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Time still succeed the former.
Then be not coy, but use your time,
And while ye may go marry;
For having lost but once your prime,
You may for ever tarry.
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