The Tragedies of Seneca / Translated into English Verse, to Which Have Been Appended Comparative Analyses of the Corresponding Greek and Roman Plays, and a Mythological Index

by Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Why dost thou lie upon a lonely couch?

Dissolve in pleasures that grim mood of thine,

And snatch the passing joys;[20] let loose the reins.450

Forbid that these, the best days of thy life,

Should vanish unenjoyed. Its proper hue

Has God allotted to each time of life,

And leads from step to step the age of man.

So joy becomes the young, a face severe

The agéd. Why dost thou restrain thyself,

And strangle at their birth the joys of life?