Art is long, and time is fleeting,1 And our hearts, though stout and brave, Still like muffled drums are beating Funeral marches to the grave.2
ATTRIBUTION:
A Psalm of Life.
Note 1. See Chaucer, page 6. Art is long, life is short.—Goethe: Wilhelm Meister, vii. 9. Hippocrates is supposed to have originated this saying which is better known in Latin: Ars longa, vita brevis est. [back]
Note 2. Our lives are but our marches to the grave.—Beaumont and Fletcher: The Humorous Lieutenant, act. iii. sc. 5. [back]
