Wise men I hold those rakes of old
Who, as we read in antique story,
When lyres were struck and wine was poured,
Set the white Death's Head on the board -
Memento mori.
Love well! love truly! and love fast!
True love evades the dilatory.
Life's bloom flares like a meteor past;
A joy so dazzling cannot last -
Memento mori.
Stop not to pluck the leaves of bay
That greenly deck the path of glory,
The wreath will wither if you stay,
So pass along your earnest way -
Memento mori.
Hear but not heed, though wild and shrill,
The cries of faction transitory;
Cleave to YOUR good, eschew YOUR ill,
A Hundred Years and all is still -
Memento mori.
When Old Age comes with muffled drums,
That beat to sleep our tired life's story,
On thoughts of dying ( Rest is good! ),
Like old snakes coiled i’ the sun, we brood -
Memento mori.