Living
Vanitas Vanitatum
Translated by John Addington Symonds (1884) · From Wine, Women, and Song (1884)
This vile world
In madness hurled
Offers but false shadows;
Joys that wane
And waste like vain
Lilies of the meadows.
Worldly wealth,
Youth, strength, and health,
Cramp the soul's endeavour;
Drive it down
In hell to drown,
Hell that burns for ever.
What we see,
And what let be,
While on earth we tarry,
We shall cast
Like leaves at last
Which the sere oaks carry.
Carnal life,
Man's law of strife,
Hath but brief existence;
Passes, fades,
Like wavering shades
Without real subsistence.
Therefore bind,
Tread down and grind
Fleshly lusts that blight us;
So heaven's bliss
'Mid saints that kiss
Shall for aye delight us.
Cite this poem
MLA
The Goliards (Wandering Scholars). “Vanitas Vanitatum.” Translated by John Addington Symonds. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/goliards/57/.
Chicago
The Goliards (Wandering Scholars). “Vanitas Vanitatum.” Translated by John Addington Symonds. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/goliards/57/.
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