Ah state of mortal man! in time of weal,
A line, a shadow! and if ill fate fall,
One wet sponge-sweep wipes all our trace away. (tr. E. D. A. Morshead)
ἰὼ βρότεια πράγματ᾿· εὐτυχοῦντα μέν
σκιά τις ἂν τρέψειεν· εἰ δὲ δυστυχῇ,
βολαῖς ὑγρώσσων σπόγγος ὤλεσεν γραφήν.
σκιά τις ἂν τρέψειεν· εἰ δὲ δυστυχῇ,
βολαῖς ὑγρώσσων σπόγγος ὤλεσεν γραφήν.
Original text (Ancient Greek)
Share this quote
Notes from Wikiquote
Alas for human destiny! Man’s happiest hours Are pictures drawn in shadow. Then ill fortune comes, And with two strokes the wet sponge wipes the drawing out. And grief itself’s hardly more pitiable than joy. (tr. P. Vellacott)