Living
Maxims of Theognis: Straightway perspiration without measure flows
Translated by Rev. J. Banks (Bohn, 1856) · From Hesiod, Callimachus and Theognis (Bohn, 1856)
Straightway perspiration without measure flows down my skin, and I am fluttered when I look at the prime of my equals-in-age, delightsome alike and beautiful; for it ought to be of longer duration, but, like a dream, precious youth is a short-lived thing: and presently over-head hangs unhappy and unsightly old age.
This translation is printed as prose in its source edition.
Codex Note
Literal prose translation by the Rev. J. Banks (Bohn, 1856), printed as prose: the plain-sense companion to Frere’s verse version. Banks’s hyphenated compounds are his own.
Cite this poem
MLA
Megara, Theognis of. “Maxims of Theognis: Straightway perspiration without measure flows.” Translated by Rev. J. Banks. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/theognis/312/.
Chicago
Megara, Theognis of. “Maxims of Theognis: Straightway perspiration without measure flows.” Translated by Rev. J. Banks. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/theognis/312/.
Read this poem with the Codex →