Ode 1.11

 

Tu ne quaesieris - scire nefas - quem mihi, quem tibi

finem di dederint, Leuconoe, nec Babylonios

temptaris numeros. Ut melius quicquid erit pati,

seu pluris hiemes, seu tribuit Iuppiter ultimam,

quae nunc oppositis debilitat pumicibus mare

Tyrrhenum. Sapias, vina liques, et spatio brevi

spem longam reseces. Dum loquimur, fugerit invida

aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.

 

 

Ode 1.11

 

You shouldn’t ask – it is a sin to know – my end or yours

decided by the Gods. Leuconoe, don’t meddle in

Babylonian numbers. It is so much better to suffer

whatever comes, whether Jupiter gives us more winters

to weaken the Tyrrhenian Sea on the rockface.

Be wise, enjoy wine. Life goes fast, so cut short

far-off hopes. As we talk, jealous time runs on:

seize the day, trust nothing of the future.