“Great Carthage low in ashes cold doth lie,
Her ruins poor the herbs in height scant pass,
So cities fall, so perish kingdoms high,
Their pride and pomp lies hid in sand and grass:
Then why should mortal man repine to die,
Whose life, is air; breath, wind; and body, glass?”

— Torquato Tasso

Giace l'alta Cartago; appena i segni
Dell'alte sue ruine il lido serba.
Muojono le città, muojono i regni;
Copre i fasti e le pompe arena ed erba;
E l'uomo d'esser mortal par che si sdegni:
O nostra mente cupida e superba!
Canto XV, stanza 20 (tr. Fairfax)
Max Wickert's translation:
: Exalted Carthage lies full low. The signs
of her great ruin fade upon the strand.
So dies each city, so each realm declines,
its pomp and glory lost in scrub and sand,
and mortal man to see it sighs and pines.
(Ah, greed and pride! when will you understand?)
Gerusalemme Liberata (1581)

Original

Giace l'alta Cartago; appena i segni Dell'alte sue ruine il lido serba. Muojono le città, muojono i regni; Copre i fasti e le pompe arena ed erba; E l'uomo d'esser mortal par che si sdegni: O nostra mente cupida e superba!

Gerusalemme Liberata (1581)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Torquato Tasso 94

Italian poet 1544–1595

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