and leaves adorn
the trees;the seasons change the earth and lessen streams
which run between
their banks;A Grace dares lead her sisters and the nymphs
in choral dances
nude.“Hope not to live eternal,” warns the year,
for hours steal
the days.The zephyr winds relieve the winter’s chill,
and summer wears
down spring,To die as autumn sheds its fruits, and then
the cold returns
again.And so the moon its losses swift renews;
yet we descend
to hellWhere wealthy Tullus dwells and Aeneas,
we dust and
shadows are.Who knows if the gods may add tomorrow
to the sum of
our todays?The greedy heir won’t lay his hands on that
which you yourself
have spent.When you are dead, then Minos as your judge
will choose
your future’s fate,and not your tongue, your virtue, nor your kin
will bring you
back to life;Diana does not free from the dark depths
her chaste Hippolytus,nor Theseus strain to break the bonds of Lethe
that hold dear
Pirithous.© 2003
Sarah Tyrrell