Living

Odes 1.11: Tu Ne Quaesieris

by Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) 65–8 BC

Translated by John Conington (3rd ed., before 1869) · From Odes, Book I

Living

Ask not ('tis forbidden knowledge), what our destined term of years,
Mine and yours; nor scan the tables of your Babylonish seers.
Better far to bear the future, my Leuconoe, like the past,
Whether Jove has many winters yet to give, or this our last;
THIS, that makes the Tyrrhene billows spend their strength against
the shore.
Strain your wine and prove your wisdom; life is short; should hope
be more?
In the moment of our talking, envious time has ebb'd away.
Seize the present; trust to-morrow e'en as little as you may.

MLA

Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus). “Odes 1.11: Tu Ne Quaesieris.” Translated by John Conington. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/horace/10/.

Chicago

Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus). “Odes 1.11: Tu Ne Quaesieris.” Translated by John Conington. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/horace/10/.

Read this poem with the Codex →

More by Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus)