Propertius -- Elegies, Book 4, Elegy 6, l. 85ff (4.6.85–86) [tr. Kline (2001)]

Dave — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 17:00:04 +0000

So I will pass the night with drinking, so with song, until daylight shines its rays into my wine.

[Sic noctem patera, sic ducam carmine, donec
iniciat radios in mea uina dies!]

Propertius (50–16 BC) Roman elegiac poet [Sextus Propertius]
Elegies, Book 4, Elegy 6, l. 85ff (4.6.85–86) [tr. Kline (2001)]

Because of the corruption of the manuscripts of Propertius and speculating from internal references, some 19th Century scholars (e.g., Lachmann) argued for a different division of the elegies into books, thus the translations noted which instead label this as Book 5, Elegy 6.

(Source (Latin)). Other translations:

Thus wine and song shall wing the night away,
Till o'er our revel streams the dawning day.
[tr. Moore (1870), 5.6]

Thus wine and song will cheer the night, till day
Upon my revel sheds its rosy ray.
[tr. Cranstoun (1875), 5.6]

Thus will I pass the night in drinking and song, till day sheds its beams over my wine.
[tr. Gantillon (1884)]

Thus will I prolong the night with goblet and song, until day flings beams of light upon my carouse.
[tr. Phillimore (1906)]

Thus will I pass the night with drink and thus with song, till dawn shall cast its rays upon my wine.
[tr. Butler (Loeb) (1912)]

So this whole night of song and drinking is mine
till the sun's rays flash new brightness into the wine.
[tr. Carrier (1963)]

Thus I will pass the night amid the bumpers
And amid the songs till day shall cast
Its rays in my wine.
[tr. Musker (1972)]

So will I spend the night with goblet and with song, until the day sheds its rays upon my wine.
[tr. Goold (Loeb) (1990)]

So with libation, so with song I'll spend the night
Till daylight thrust its rays into my wine.
[tr. Lee (1992)]

With song and goblet I will spend the night until
the dawn adds lustre to my wine.
[tr. Holcombe (2009)]

Maher, Bill -- When You Ride Alone You Ride With Bin Laden (2002)

Dave — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 15:40:32 +0000

But freedom isn’t free. It shouldn’t be a bragging point that, “Oh, I don’t get involved in politics,” as if that makes someone cleaner. No, that makes you derelict of duty in a republic. Liars and panderers in government would have a much harder time of it if so many people didn’t insist on their right to remain ignorant and blindly agreeable.

William "Bill" Maher (b. 1956) American comedian, political commentator, critic, television host.
When You Ride Alone You Ride With Bin Laden (2002)

WIST Quotations

Propertius -- Elegies, Book 4, Elegy 6, l. 85ff (4.6.85–86) [tr. Kline (2001)]

Maher, Bill -- When You Ride Alone You Ride With Bin Laden (2002)