1. People seek happiness in this life
Yet time refuses to be generous with them

2. Life has fought them since it began
And since they began, they fought it back

3. Vain hopes mislead them
While events belie their thoughts

4. Many who beg are given nothing
Many who plead find no comfort

5. Cares have multiplied, but no one pays heed
Neither complaints nor tongues can meet them

6. I grant you safety, oh hostile adversary
When hostility ends, safety is a right

7. If they seek you, I have turned from them
Their desires are despised, and so are they

8. People wish each other well in words
Alas, they have lied and betrayed one another

9. Goodness has no place in this life
Nor any place in the next life

10. But youth has its follies
Followed by regrets and sorrows

11. It gives freedom to its whims
Then pulls in the reins when older

12. A moralist came to advise me
But advice and admonitions have become weak

13. I am tired of words, for they are useless
Advice in prose or verse is fruitless

14. I have lost my way and abandoned it
Now I judge no one and am judged by none

15. I regret no covenant I violated
But I kept a covenant that could not be kept

16. I wronged a loyal friend for many long years
Thinking myself beyond reproach

17. In a land where murder never ends
And war is a constant festival

18. The coward summoned up his courage in vain
And only swords could answer his call

19. Arms labored there continuously
Wielding blows and stabs

20. My youthful eyes wept until their tears ran dry
Then the eyelids themselves began to weep

21. What use is good advice in such a place?
Goodness has no place in this life

22. So leave me be, if my hopes suffice me
I have my own affairs, and advisors have theirs