Alexander Pope
‘Adriani morientis ad animam, or, the Heathen to His Departing Soul’
Ah, fleeting Spirit! wand’ring fire,A loose translation of the last words of Emperor Hadrian, from the Historia Augusta (Vita Hadriani, 25.9):
That long hast warm’d my tender breast,
Must thou no more this frame inspire,
No more a pleasing cheerful guest?
Whither, ah whither, art thou flying,
To what dark undiscover’d shore?
Thou seem’st all trembling, shiv’ring, dying,
And Wit and Humour are no more!
Animula, vagula, blandula
Hospes comesque corporis
Quae nunc abibis in loca
Pallidula, rigida, nudula,
Nec, ut soles, dabis iocos.