Vreme trece, vreme vine,
Toate-s vechi si noua toate;
Ce e rau si ce e bine
Tu te-ntreaba si socoate;
Nu spera si nu ai teama,
Ce e val, ca valul trece;
De te-ndeamna, de te cheama'
Tu ramii la toate rece.

Multe trec pe dinainte,
In auz ne suna multe,
Cine tine toate minte
Si ar sta sa le asculte?...
Tu aseaza-te deoparte,
Regasindu-te pe tine,
Cind cu zgomote desarte
Vreme trece, vreme vine.

Nici incline a ei limba
Recea cumpan-a gindirii
Inspre clipa ce se schimba
Pentru masca fericirii,
Ce din moartea ei se naste
Si o clipa tine poate;
Pentru cine o cunoaste
Toate-s vechi si noua toate.

Privitor ca la teatru
Tu in lume sa te-nchipui;
Joace unul si pe patru,
Totusi tu ghici-vei chipu-i,
Si de plinge, de se cearta,
Tu in colt petreci in tine
Si-ntelegi din a lor arta
Ce e rau si ce e bine.

Viitorul si trecutul
Sunt a filei doua fete,
Vede-n capat inceputul
Cine stie sa le-nvete;
Tot ce-a fost ori o sa fie
In prezent le-avem pe toate
Dar de-a lor zadarnicie
Te intreaba si socoate.

Caci acelorasi mijloace
Se supun cite exista,
Si de mii de ani incoace
Lumea-i vesela si trista;
Alte masti, aceeasi piesa,
Alte guri, aceeasi gama,
Amagit atit de-adese
Nu spera si nu ai teama.

Nu spera cind vezi miseii
La izbinda facind punte,
Te-or intrece nataraii,
De ai fi cu stea in frunte;
Teama n-ai, cata-vor iarasi
Intre dinsii sa se plece,
Nu te prinde lor tovaras:
Ce e val, ca valul trece.

Cu un cintec de sirena,
Lumea-ntinde lucii mreje;
Ca sa schimbe-actorii-n scena,
Te momeste in virteje;
Tu pe-alaturi te stercoara,
Nu baga nici chiar de seama,
Din cararea ta afara
De te-ndeamna, de te cheama.

De te-ating, sa feri in laturi,
De hulesc, sa taci din gura;
Ce mai vrei cu-a tale sfaturi
Daca stii a lor masura;
Zica toti ce-or vrea sa zica,
Treaca-n lume cine-o trece;
Ca sa nu-ndragesti nimica,
Tu ramii la toate rece.

Tu ramii la toate rece,
De te-ndeamna, de te cheama;
Ce e val, ca valul trece,
Nu spera si nu ai teama;
Tu te-ntreaba si socoate
Ce e rau si ce e bine;
Toate-s vechi si noua toate:
Vreme trece, vreme vine.

Glossa

Time goes by, time comes along,
All is old and all is new;
What is right and what is wrong,
You must think and ask of you;
Have no hope and have no fear,
Waves that rise can never hold;
If they urge or if they cheer,
You remain aloof and cold.

To our sight a lot will glisten,
Many sounds will reach our ear;
Who could take the time to listen
And remember all we hear?
Keep aside from all that patter,
Seek yourself, far from the throng
When with loud and idle clatter
Time goes by, time comes along.

Nor forget the tongue of reason
Or its even scales depress
When the moment, changing season,
Wears the mask of happiness -
It is born of reason's slumber
And may last a wink as true:
For the one who knows its number
All is old and all is new.

Be as to a play, spectator,
As the world unfolds before:
You will know the heart of matter
Should they act two parts or four;
When they cry or tear asunder
From your seat enjoy along
And you'll learn from art to wonder
What is right and what is wrong.

Past and future, ever blending,
Are the twin sides of same page:
New start will begin with ending
When you know to learn from age;
All that was or be tomorrow
We have in the present, too;
But what's vain and futile sorrow
You must think and ask of you;

For the living cannot sever
From the means we've always had:
Now, as years ago, and ever,
Men are happy or are sad:
Other masks, same play repeated;
Diff'rent tongues, same words to hear;
Of your dreams so often cheated,
Have no hope and have no fear.

Hope not when the villains cluster
By success and glory drawn:
Fools with perfect lack of luster
Will outshine Hyperion!
Fear it not, they'll push each other
To reach higher in the fold,
Do not side with them as brother,
Waves that rise can never hold.

Sounds of siren songs call steady
Toward golden nets, astray;
Life attracts you into eddies
To change actors in the play;
Steal aside from crowd and bustle,
Do not look, seem not to hear
From your path, away from hustle,
If they urge or if they cheer;

If they reach for you, go faster,
Hold your tongue when slanders yell;
Your advice they cannot master,
Don't you know their measure well?
Let them talk and let them chatter,
Let all go past, young and old;
Unattached to man or matter,
You remain aloof and cold.

You remain aloof and cold
If they urge or if they cheer;
Waves that rise can never hold,
Have no hope and have no fear;
You must think and ask of you
What is right and what is wrong;
All is old and all is new,
Time goes by, time comes along.

Gloss

Days go past and days come still,
All is old and all is new,
What is well and what is ill,
You imagine and construe:
Do not hope and do not fear,
Waves that leap like waves must fall;
Should they praise or should they jeer,
Look but coldly on it all.

Things you'll meet of many a kind,
Sights and sounds, and tales no end,
But to keep them all in mind
Who would bother to attend?..
Very little does it matter,
If you can yourself fulfil,
That with idle, empty chatter
Days go past and days come still.

Little heed the lofty ranging
That cold logic does display
To explain the endless changing
Of this pagentry of joy,
And which out of death is growing
But to last an hour or two:
For the mind profoundly knowing
All is old and all is new.

As before some troupe of actors
You before the world remain;
Act they Gods, or malefactors,
'Tis but they dressed up again.
And their loving and their slaying,
Sit apart and watch until
You will see behind their playing
What is well and what is ill.

What has been and what will be
Are but of a page each part
Which the world to read is free,
Yet who knows them off by heart?
All that was and is to come
Prospers in the present too,
But its narrow modicum
You imagine and construe.

With the selfsame scales and gauges
This great universe to weight
Man has been for thousand ages
Sometimes sad and sometimes gay;
Other masks, the same old story,
Players pass and reappear,
Broken promises of glory;
Do not hope and do not fear.

Do not hope when greed is staring
O'er the bridge that luck has flung,
These are fools for not despairing,
On their brows though stars are hung;
Do not fear if one or other
Does his comrades deep enthrall,
Do not let him call you brother,
Waves that leap like waves must fall.

Like the sirens' silver singing
Men spread nets to catch their prey,
Up and down the curtain swinging
Midst a whirlwind of display.
Leave them room without resistance,
Nor their commentaries cheer,
Hearing only from the distance
Should they praise or should they jeer.

If they touch you, do not tarry,
Should they curse you, hold your tongue,
All you counsel must miscarry
Knowing who you are among.
Let them muse and let them mingle,
Let them pass both great and small:
Unattached and calm and single,
Look but coldly on it all.

Look but coldly on it all,
Should they praise or should they jeer;
Waves that leap like waves must fall,
Do not hope and do not fear.
You imagine and construe
What is well and what is ill;
All is old and all is new,
Days go past and days come still.