2015 Latin Salutatory Oration
Neil Hannan
(English translastion from text delivered in Latin, as prepared)
Given in the Academic Assembly of Princeton
On the Second of June
In the Year 2015
In the 268th Academic Year
I praise you, illustrious ones,
Gladly, in Aeolic meters, with a brevity
Which is fitting not for your praises,
But for the slight talent of the speaker.
Welcome my words, O President, under whose leadership,
With the trustees and their counsel,
The campus, this glory of the Dutch prince,
Brilliantly flourishes.
And I do not pass over in silence
The most honorable persons, you, O learned faculty,
Since you always taught us generously
And through your aid the ferocious thesis then was conquered.
Nor now do I pass over the parents (perish the thought!),
O you who provide silent assistance,
Nor you, my friends, with whom I am lucky
To finish and mark with "the end"
The years of youth. The flight of time
Pertains to all. Let the poet sing
Of the uncountable years triumphantly
Or warn us to prune long
Hopes. Thus let those learned in markets
Report the continuous discounting of time,
And thus let the physicists speak of its arrow,
Asymmetric in universal space.
For us about to depart, it is fitting to recall
The clubs echoing, "Turn down for what?"
The voices of singing loves,
The times past, the good companions.
As now we exchange this place for further ones,
Close these extraordinary times,
And begin our departure,
May you always be well.
