"THEY ARE NOT LONG"

Vitae Summa Brevis Spem Nos Vetat Incohare Longam
"The brief sum of life forbids us the hope of enduring long"
(Horace)


THEY are not long, the weeping and the laughter,
Love and desire and hate:
I think they have no portion in us after
We pass the gate.

They are not long, the days of wine and roses:
Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for a while, then closes
Within a dream.


Ernest Dowson