Bodleian quatrain nr. 59
Cadell 1899 - 76
I'm not the man, the coming death to fear;
That half may well brighter than this half be.
God as a loan my life has given me.
I'll give it back, when reckoning time draws near.
Cowell 1858 - 16
I am not the man to fear annihilation;
That half forsooth is sweeter than this half which we have;
This life of mine is entrusted as a loan,
And when pay-day comes, I will give it back.
Grolleau 1902 - 59
Je ne suis pas homme à craindre te non-être,
Cette moitié du destin me plaît mieux que l'autre moitié;
C'est une vie qui me fut prêtée par Dieu;
Je la rendrai quand il faudra la rendre.
Heron-Allen 1898 - 59
I am not the man to dread my non-existence,
for that half seems pleasanter to me than this half;
this is a life which God has lent me,
I will surrender it when the time of surrender comes.
De Marthold 1910 - 59
Je ne fus jamais homme à craindre le non-être,
Cette moitié du sort, mieux que l'autre, peut-être,
Me plaît; car la vie est un prêt que me fit Dieu;
Je la lui rendrai quand il faudra disparaître.
Von der Porten 1927 - 59
Ich bin kein Feigling, der sein Nichtsein scheut,
Das "dann" vielleicht ist besser, als das "heut";
Dies Leben ward mir einst von Gott verliehn,
Ich geb's zurück, wenn es die Zeit gebeut.
Rosen 1928 - 90
I am not the man who fears the hour of death,
For that half seems to me preferable to this half.
God has given me my life as a loan;
I shall return it when the hour comes for returning it.
Talbot 1908 - 59
I do not dread Extinction: far more bliss
Lies in that half of Time than lives in this;
This life was lent by God, and unto Him
I will surrender what I shall not miss.
Thompson 1906 - 261
I 'm not the man whom death doth fill with fear,
That half than this to me hath more of cheer;
To me life is a loan that God hath made.
And I 'l1 repay it when the time is here.
Tirtha 1941 - X.146
I am a soldier brave, at death I scoff,
I die in full than live from Him cut off;
This life's a hat which He had lent me once,
When called by Him with smiling face I doff.
Whinfield 1883 - 213
I am not one whom Death doth much dismay,
Life's terrors all Death's terrors far outweigh;
This life, that Heaven hath lent me for a while,
I will pay back, when it is time to pay.
- ARBERRY 1949 - 18
- ARBERRY 1952 - 33
- BOWEN 1961 - 58
- SAIDI 1991 - 159
- WHINFIELD 1882 - 121