Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.33

“Sooner or later, we all hurry off to the same place.”

aut serius aut citius sedem properamus ad unam.

[Literally, ‘more slowly or more quickly’ we set off to one place.]

—

Compare Ovid’s predecessor Propertius (3.5.15):

“The victor and the vanquished alike will mingle among the shades.”

victor cum victis partier miscebitur umbris.

Some suggest that A.E. Housman’s poetry shows very little trace of being influenced by his extensive engagement with Latin poetry. However, it is hard not to sense the similarity between the above two sentiments and that famous line from To an Athlete Dying Young,

“And silence sounds no worse than cheers

after earth has stopped the ears.”