Carpe diem

This isn't a great picture, but it's a great place. These are the ruins of a villa in the Sabine Hills outside Rome. The poet Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) lived there in the first century BC (he called it his Sabine Farm), and many of his greatest poems are set in the countryside around it. We visited in August 1999, we had a wonderful holiday in the region and I insisted on a pilgrimage. We were the only people there and the curator seemed quite bemused by my enthusiasm. There's little to see, but I got very emotional about it.

I'd have to say that Horace is my favourite poet by far. His work is very human, very lyrical. His poems somehow capture the fragility and beauty of life, and the bittersweet joy to be taken from moments that you know will not last.

This is a quick translation I did today of Ode 1.11, with the famous "carpe diem" line. It's not literal (obviously), nor is it very good, but it captures the spirit if not the beauty of the original and it scans, and rhymes, just about.

Don't ask about expiry dates, we're not meant to know.
Horoscopes won't specify the day on which you'll go.
Relax, and enjoy, the years that you've still got.
There might be many more of them, or, there might not.
This could be your last chance to watch the World Cup,
So grab another glass of beer and don't sober up.
The sensible approach is to manage expectations.
Time is ticking by while we have this conversation.
Don't put too much faith in a future far away,
Do the right thing now: seize the day.

Wine has become beer, and the waves of the Tyrrhenian Sea beating against the cliffs have become the World Cup, but hey. Doing this has reminded me how much I used to enjoy crafting translations, I think I'm going to do some more.

Details: Minolta X-500, 50mm lens, exposure not recorded. Licenza, Italy, August 1999. Placemark.