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| William Strang The Reaper 1892 etching British Museum |
Of all things Homer said, one thing exceeds all others.
"The tragedy of man is the tragedy of leaves."
Yet few who've heard it have taken it to heart.
For in youth we come to believe some things
will never die, that sickness, decrepitude
and age are mere phantasms of an alien mind.
Poor fools, how oversoon death will seem to them,
how like a dream, that momentary judder of existence.
– Simonides (556-468 BC)
From the fine anthology, Greek Lyric Poetry : a new translation by Sherod Santos (New York : Norton, 2005)
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| after Rosso Fiorentino The Skeletons 1518 engraving British Museum |
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| Ed. Renaux Le départ de la Commune 1870-71 lithograph Victoria & Albert Museum |
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| William Blake Hamlet and his Father's Ghost 1806 drawing British Museum |
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| Francisco Goya Flight of Witches 1797 Prado |
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| Francisco Ribalta Soul in Pain c. 1605-10 Prado |
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| Peter Paul Rubens Man tormented by Demon 1621 drawing Victoria & Albert Museum |
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| Titian Tityus 1548-49 Prado |
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| Hendrik Goltzius The Companions of Cadmus and the Dragon 1588 engraving Metropolitan Museum |
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| Jacopo Ligozzi Chimera c. 1590-1610 drawing Prado |