Sol 6.1

  1. Many a man looked to with hope, and many a man cherishing hope,

    Time has turned him away from that hope.

  2. And many a youth enjoying splendid fortune

    has had it stripped from him—for Time has its turns.

  3. How can a man hope, being food for death,

    while [his soul] lies hostage, held captive in the cords?

  4. Whenever he leaves a day behind and it passes,

    that brings him nearer to his appointed end.

  5. Time has nocked its arrows toward us;

    for a second draught, it targets us after the first.

  6. It shoots at us, and we do not see it,

    like an archer who sought game and stalked it by stealth.

  7. He was granted the prey and found it off guard,

    so he shot with it in his power, then killed.

  8. Thus Time is [apparently] charged with us;

    it is never heedless, even if something else is.

Sol 6.1