Vitae summa brevis spem nos vetat incohare longam

(The brevity of life forbids us to entertain hopes of long duration)

Ernest Dawson, 1896

They are not long, the weeping and the laughter, love and desire and hate;
I think they have no portion in us after we pass the gate.
They are not long, the days of wine and roses:
Out of a misty dream our path emerges for a while, then closes within a dream.