You Only Live Once

dum loquimur, fugerit invida aetas: carpe diem quam minimum credula postero.

- Horace, Ode I.11  Tu ne quaesieris 

I'm not an expert in Latin, but I did buy an old Latin dictionary for fifty cents at a thrift store, so that has to count for something.  The two words that stand out to me are, of course, carpe diem.  In English, it translates to "seize the day."  It's a fairly common phrase, even in the modern era, meaning to take advantage of the moment.  However, a new term with basically the same meaning has spread through the ranks of teenagers like the plague.  Yes, I mean "YOLO," short for "you only live once."  YOLO is the essentially the carpe diem of today's world.

Due to the finicky nature of Latin, the last two lines from Horace's ode have multiple different translations, and, therefore, the meaning varies slightly with each modification.  The English version we discussed during class, translated these lines as follows:

"Even as we speak, envious time flies past.  Harvest the day and leave as little as possible for tomorrow."

In most of the translations, with a few exceptions, time is envious.  Why?  For a while, I couldn't wrap my head around the concept, but then I looked at the context of the line in the ode.  Time is being personified.  Time is envious because, for once, no one is paying attention to it.  Usually, everyone is so worried about having enough time that they waste all of their precious time concerned with how they are going to spend said time.  It's one big conundrum, and time probably loves watching people flounder about trying to escape from its greedy, little hands.  Time may also suffer from a touch of envy because it has no choice but to continue moving forward.  Time can't stop for anything.  Humans are able to defy time, albeit briefly, and relish in an event, a moment.

"Harvest the day" is basically another way to say "seize the day.  In David Ferry's translation, he uses the phrase, "Hold on to the day."  One of my favorite translations of this passage is Aphra Behn's, who ends the ode with "Let us enjoy to-day, we'll die to-morrow."

There are a multitude of other translations, but they all mean the same thing.  Live in the moment.  Have no regrets.  Take advantage of what time you have.  [Insert every other inspirational quote about living life to its full potential here.]

All of these inspiring tidbits of advice about living for the moment are fine and dandy, but let's not forget that Horace is speaking to a woman, Leuconoe, in his ode.  In a nutshell, Horace is telling this woman, "Life is short, so have sex with me."  Horace was quite the charmer.  He probably got all the ladies using that kind of logic.

Similarly, William Shakespeare wrote a poem titled "Carpe Diem," in which he also speaks to a woman.

This poem is aptly named.  It is extremely similar to Horace's Ode I.11.  Shakespeare is telling his true love that time is precious, so they should make the most of it while they can.  The last three lines, "In delay there lies no plenty,--/ Then come kiss me, Sweet and twenty,/ Youth's a stuff will not endure," is a longer version of "seize the day." Youth is only temporary.  Eventually, everyone grows old.  That doesn't necessarily mean that love has to end, but love is usually associated with youth and vice versa.  Shakespeare, in so many words, is using time as leverage to earn a kiss.  Put Horace and William Shakespeare in a bar, and they could get any woman they wanted with their smooth words and undeniable logic.

I find it amazing that just a few lines in Latin can sprout so many different translations.  All of the versions are special in their own way.  The translations are sort of like snowflakes, unique and beautiful.  Ignore the fact that Horace is trying to persuade someone to have sex with him, and the ode actually gives viable advice that is relevant to life.  Don't take time for granted, and live each moment like it's you're last.  After all, you only live once.