Thursday 8 May 2014

Carpe Diem

Tu ne quaesieris, scire nefas, quem mihi, quem tibi
Finem di dederint, Leuconoë, nec Babylonios
Temptaris numeros. Ut melius, quicquid erit, pati,
Seu plures hiemes, seu tribuit Iuppiter ultimam,
Quae nunc oppositis debilitat pumicibus mare
Tyrhenum. Sapias, vina liques, et spatio brevi
Spem longam reseces. Dum loquimur, fugerit invida
Aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.

(Horace, Ode 1.11, ca 23 BC).

In "carpe diem" the verb carpere apparently means "to pluck" as in a fruit or flower, without the violence of "seize the day", which puts an entirely different complexion on the tag beloved of Business Success Coaches and New Age Selfishistas.

Thanks to yet another new fault in Firefox I have lost the link to the essay discussing the translation by Ezra Pound and

Business Success Coaches and New Age Selfishistas:
SEIZE TH'DAY BY THE F
                                                      oh my
BALLS YOU F
                                                      dear oh dear
LOSER WOIM!!!

Well, look at all the websites offering "90 Days to Building a Successful Business Coaching Business" and imagine the sad sacks who fall for them. Like those Captains'o'th'Turf who make their living selling racing tips to the dumb punterage.

1 comment:

x said...

That looks like my nice but always drunk (female) neighbour. Don't think she speaks Latin although it's hard to tell after the 4th whisky (in addition to the ones she already had before calling).