{"schema_version":1,"access":"public","rights":"Public-domain or compatibly licensed source editions; provenance is retained per record.","work":{"slug":"carpe-diem","title":"Odes 1.11 (Carpe Diem)","author":"Horace","tradition":"roman","language":"la","genre":"lyric","period":"1st c. BCE","source_url":"https://la.wikisource.org/wiki/Carmina_(Horatius)/Liber_I/Carmen_XI","original":{"text":"Tu ne quaesieris, scire nefas, quem mihi, quem tibi\nfinem di dederint, Leuconoe, nec Babylonios\ntemptaris numeros. Ut melius quidquid erit pati,\nseu pluris hiemes seu tribuit Iuppiter ultimam,\nquae nunc oppositis debilitat pumicibus mare\nTyrrhenum: sapias, vina liques, et spatio brevi\nspem longam reseces. Dum loquimur, fugerit invida\naetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.","download_url":"https://mouseia.org/api/works/carpe-diem/original.txt"},"translations":[{"id":"trn_carpe_diem_mouseia","translator":"Mouseia","kind":"curated","note":"Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from the original source for fidelity, modern clarity, beauty, symbolism, and structure.","text":"Do not ask—it is forbidden to know—what end the gods have given me, what end to you,\nLeuconoe, nor put the Babylonian numbers to the test.\nHow much better to bear whatever comes,\nwhether Jupiter grants us more winters or this is the last,\nwhich now wears down the Tyrrhenian sea upon the opposing pumice cliffs.\nBe wise: strain the wine, and within our brief span\nprune back long hope. Even as we speak, envious time will have fled:\npluck the day, trusting as little as possible in tomorrow.","download_url":"https://mouseia.org/api/works/carpe-diem/translations/trn_carpe_diem_mouseia.txt"},{"id":"trn_carpe_diem_plain","translator":"Mouseia","kind":"plain","note":"Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from the full Latin ode.","text":"Do not ask, Leuconoe. We are not allowed to know what end the gods have given me or you. And do not consult Babylonian horoscopes. It is better simply to endure whatever comes, whether Jupiter gives us many more winters, or makes this one, now pounding the Tyrrhenian sea against the cliffs, our last. Be wise. Strain the wine. Cut back long hopes to fit life's short span. Even while we speak, jealous time is running away. Seize the day, and trust as little as possible in tomorrow.","download_url":"https://mouseia.org/api/works/carpe-diem/translations/trn_carpe_diem_plain.txt"},{"id":"trn_carpe_diem_ref","translator":"Public domain","kind":"reference","note":"Complete public-domain translation made directly from the original source text.","text":"Ask not ('tis forbidden knowledge), what our destined term of years,\nMine and yours; nor scan the tables of your Babylonish seers.\nBetter far to bear the future, my Leuconoe, like the past,\nWhether Jove has many winters yet to give, or this our last;\nThis, that makes the Tyrrhene billows spend their strength against the shore.\nStrain your wine and prove your wisdom; life is short; should hope be more?\nIn the moment of our talking, envious time has ebb'd away.\nSeize the present; trust to-morrow e'en as little as you may.","download_url":"https://mouseia.org/api/works/carpe-diem/translations/trn_carpe_diem_ref.txt"}],"retex_markdown_url":"https://mouseia.org/api/works/carpe-diem/retex.md"}}