Poems and Songs of Vladimir Vysotsky. A Ballad of Time.

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Commentary to the poem “We’ve gotten but a twinkling...”

This poem calls to mind Lucius Annaeus Seneca’s words: “Magno aestimamus, mori tardius.” (“We think it is important to die a little later.”) It is also per­ti­nent to quote here his other saying: “Quomodo fabula, sic vita: non quam diu, sed quam bene acta sit, refert.” (“Life is like a play: it is not the length, but the ex­cel­lence of the acting that matters.”)

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