Vitae Summa Brevis Spem Nos Vetat Incohare Longam

by Ernest Dowson

Vita Summa Brevis Spem Nos Vetat Incohare Longam (translation: "They are not long, the weeping and the laughter") (1896) is the source of the phrase that Dowson coined: "Days of wine and roses."

Vitae Summa Brevis Spem Nos Vetat Incohare Longam

Simon Luttechuys and Cornelius de Heem, A Roemer with white wine, 17th century

　　They are not long, the weeping and the laughter. Love and desire and hate: I think they have no portion in us after We pass the gate. They are not long, the days of wine and roses: Out of a misty dream Our path emerges for a while, then closes Within a dream.

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