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A Plea for the Present
AD LEUCONOEM.
Horace: Book I, Ode 11.
“Tu ne quaesieris, scire nefas—”
Be not, I pray, so curious For knowledge; it’s injurious
To know about the future
And compute your
Every chance.’T would be a source of pain to you To find what years remain to you
To know your length of tether
And the weather
In advance.Life? Don’t have such a thirst of it; The best you get’s the worst of it!
You can’t be here forever,
They assever.
Watch your step!While I’ve been oratorical Pa Tempus (metaphorical)
Has, as it were, been guying
Me by flying.
—Are you hep?25
