At midnight, when suddenly you hear <br />an invisible procession going by <br />with exquisite music, voices, <br />don't mourn your luck that's failing now, <br />work gone wrong, your plans <br />all proving deceptive--don't mourn them uselessly: <br />as one long prepared, and full of courage, <br />say goodbye to her, to Alexandria who is leaving. <br />Above all, don't fool yourself, don't say <br />it was a dream, your ears deceived you: <br />don't degrade yourself with empty hopes like these. <br />As one long prepared, and full of courage, <br />as is right for you who were given this kind of city, <br />go firmly to the window <br />and listen with deep emotion, <br />but not with the whining, the pleas of a coward; <br />listen--your final pleasure--to the voices, <br />to the exquisite music of that strange procession, <br />and say goodbye to her, to the Alexandria you are losing.<br /><br />Gaius Valerius Catullus<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-god-abandons-antony/
