THE BREVITY OF LIFE
An hour after hour inconceivably goes by: A forebear lived, then you, now an heir came to life. In brief: you won't be next day, what you are today, And since you lived, they'll call you he who passed away; Sound, shade, smoke, wind, flash, word1 - that's what life is known for. The sun which once passed by will not rise ever more, Like a wheel with no brake fleeting time runs away, Many who yearn for old age were thrown off astray2. Just now when you are thinking, poor soul, you die out; Between death and birth our life hardly marks about A fourth of an instant; for many another The cradle became a grave, a tomb their mother. Translated by Michael J. Mikoś Notes
1 'Word' - Naborowski speaks literally here about 'voice and point', i.e. vowels and consonants. The whole set phrase was used to show the quickly passing time. 2 Many people who plan to live long fall off the wheel of Fortune. |