Edited by: Jedidiah Boggs
Paraphrase of Seneca’s Thyestes1 2
Let him that will ascend, the tottering Seat
Of Courtly grandeur, and become as great
As are his mounting Wishes; As for me,
Let sweet repose and rest my Portion be;3
Give me some mean obscure Recess, a Sphere
Out of the Road of Business, or the fear
Of falling lower; where I sweetly may
My self and dear retirement still enjoy:
Let not my Life and Name be known unto
The Grandees of the Times,4 tost to and fro
By Censures or Applause; but let my Age
Slide gently by, not overthwart the Stage
of Publick Action; unheard, unseen,
And unconcern’d, as if I ne’er had been.
And thus, while I shall pass my silent days
In shady privacy, free from the Noise
And bustles of the World, then shall I
A good old Innocent Plebeian Die.
Death is a mere Suprize, a vary Snare
To him, that makes it his Lifes greatest Care
To be a publick Pageant, known to all,
But unacquainted with himself, doth fall.5
Footnotes
1The Latin reads:
Stet quicumque uolet potens
aulae culmine lubrico:
me dulcis saturet quies;
obscuro positus loco
leni perfruar otio,
nullis nota Quiritibus
aetas per tacitum fluat.
Sic cum transierint mei
nullo cum strepitu dies,
plebeius moriar senex.
illi mors grauis incubat
qui, notus nimis omnibus,
ignotus moritur sibi.
“Thyestes.” The Latin Library. Accessed November 7, 2015. http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/sen/sen.thyestes.shtml.
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2The modern English reads:
Let him stand who will, in pride of power, on empire’s slippery height; let me be filled with sweet repose; in humble station fixed, let me enjoy untroubled ease, and, to my fellow citizens unknown, let my life’s stream flow in silence. So when my days have passed noiselessly away, lowly may I die and full of years. On him does death lie heavily, who, but too well known to all, dies to himself unknown.
“THYESTES.” Classical E-Text: SENECA, THYESTES. Accessed November 7, 2015. http://www.theoi.com/Text/SenecaThyestes.html.
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3Typical example of Hellenistic Stoicism seen throughout the poem as well as the original piece.
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4“Grandees” refers to a noblemen of the highest rank, typically Spanish or Portuguese.
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5Andrew Marvell offers his own interpretation of this same passage in “The Second Chorus from Seneca’s Tragedy, Thyestes.”
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