The Works of Sir John Suckling in prose and verse/Ei men en mathein
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If man might know
[Εἰ μὲν ἦν μαθεῖν]
Εἰ μὲν ἦν μαθεῖν
Ἅ δεῖ παθεῖν
Καὶ μὴ παθεῖν,
Καλὸν ἦν τὸ μαθεῖν·
Εἰ δὲ δεῖ παθεῖν15
Ἅ δεῖ μαθεῖν,
Τὶ δεῖ μαθεῖν;
Χρῆ γὰρ παθεῖν·
Scire si liceret quæ debes subire,
Et non subire, pulchrum est scire:20
Sed si subire debes quæ debes scire,
Quorsum vis scire? nam debes subire.
Englished thus
The ill he must undergo,
And shun it so,
Then it were good to know:
But, if he undergo it,5
Though he know it,
What boots him know it?
He must undergo it.