[Lovecraft] What's that quote again?

[Crayne]

No, I'm not posting a game show thread. :)

All I want to know is which of these two quotes is correct. I've seen both used on the net.

"That is not dead which can eternal lie. Yet with strange aeons even death may die."

OR

"That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die."

[GrimGent]

"In the elder time chosen men had talked with the entombed Old Ones in dreams, but then something happened. The great stone city R'lyeh, with its monoliths and sepulchres, had sunk beneath the waves; and the deep waters, full of the one primal mystery through which not even thought can pass, had cut off the spectral intercourse. But memory never died, and the high-priests said that the city would rise again when the stars were right. Then came out of the earth the black spirits of earth, mouldy and shadowy, and full of dim rumours picked up in caverns beneath forgotten sea-bottoms. But of them old Castro dared not speak much. He cut himself off hurriedly, and no amount of persuasion or subtlety could elicit more in this direction. The size of the Old Ones, too, he curiously declined to mention. Of the cult, he said that he thought the centre lay amid the pathless desert of Arabia, where Irem, the City of Pillars, dreams hidden and untouched. It was not allied to the European witch-cult, and was virtually unknown beyond its members. No book had ever really hinted of it, though the deathless Chinamen said that there were double meanings in the Necronomicon of the mad Arab Abdul Alhazred which the initiated might read as they chose, especially the much-discussed couplet:

That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange aeons even death may die."

(From "The Call of Cthulhu".)

[Crayne]

That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange aeons even death may die."

Thanks. :)

I'd hate to have it tattooed incorrectly. ;)

[Pope Nag]

Thanks. :)
I'd hate to have it tattooed incorrectly. ;)

That... would really be a bad thing, yes. Still, it's probably for the best you didn't choose to go with Phn'glui M'gl wna'f, Cthulhu R'lyeh Wgha Nagl Ftaghn, then.

[Crayne]

That... would really be a bad thing, yes. Still, it's probably for the best you didn't choose to go with Phn'glui M'gl wna'f, Cthulhu R'lyeh Wgha Nagl Ftaghn, then.

No. Everyone forgets the final apostrophe.

[StephenT]

Why not go for it in Latin iambic pentameter, instead? :)

Non mortuum est qui in aeternam potest iacere
et aionta nova mors ipsa possit morire.

[Crayne]

Why not go for it in Latin iambic pentameter, instead? :)

Non mortuum est qui in aeternam potest iacere
et aionta nova mors ipsa possit morire.

How reliable is that translation? Or did HPL write that as well?

[Calculon]

If it's forever, I'd still go with Lovecraft's original English formulation.

It's powerful stuff.

[Karanov]

I love that quote.... it rolls of the tongue beautifully, is completely meaningless but implies so much.

I wouldn't get it as a tattoo, though. On the other hand I'm seriously considering a Pratchett quote for my tombstone* so I shouldn't complain.

*"I commend my soul to any god who can find it." Love that one. Of course I'm probably not going to go through with it... but it would still be great. Maybe something for the funeral invitations? Hmmm...

[Crayne]

If it's forever, I'd still go with Lovecraft's original English formulation.

It's powerful stuff.

Oh, I will. :) What's the point of having a quote tattooed if it's not the original?

[Ithaeur]

Why not go for it in Latin iambic pentameter, instead? :)

Non mortuum est qui in aeternam potest iacere
et aionta nova mors ipsa possit morire.

How about a Finnish version?

Ei kuollut se oo mi voi iäti maata,
aikojen myötä voi kuolokin laata.

[StephenT]

How reliable is that translation? Or did HPL write that as well?
How reliable? Since I did it myself, I'm not the best person to answer that question. :) I don't think there's anything wrong with it, although "aionta nova" as a translation of "with strange aeons" was a bit of a stretch - I used the Greek word for "aeon" rather than look for a Latin equivalent (saeculum, or similar).

Also, to fit the pentameter meter you really need to elide the "qui in" in the first line...

[Crayne]

Okay, I just saw a tattoo on someone in the SG Tattoo group that said:

"That is not dead which may eternal lie
And with strange aeons even death may die."

Is this a good quote? Does HPL use "may" or "can"?

Otherwise, this guy has a problem. At least when he meets Lovecraft fans. ;)

Edited to show I'm a tired spelling-challenged little bastard

[Schroedinger's Cat]

Okay, I just saw a tattoo in someone in the SG Tattoo group that said:

"That is dead which may eternal lie
And with strange aeons even death may die."

Is this a good quote? Does HPL use "may" or "can"?

Otherwise, this guy has a problem. At least when he meets Lovecraft fans. ;)

That is innacurate. You should point and laugh.

You could also go with one of the Mythos symbols:

http://catalog.chaosium.com/images/CHA0084-SB.gif

http://catalog.chaosium.com/images/CHA0101.gif

[GrimGent]

"That is dead which may eternal lie
And with strange aeons even death may die."
"Not dead", surely? Anyway, that sounds like a misquote to me. Even all the printed versions of the story that I've seen have it as "can".

[Crayne]

"Not dead", surely? Anyway, that sounds like a misquote to me. Even all the printed versions of the story that I've seen have it as "can".

"Not" dead, yes. Sorry. :p

Sounded like a misquote to me to, but I thought I'd check. Poor guy. :eek:

[Random Nerd]

You could also go with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elder_Sign">Lovecraft version of the Elder Sign</a>.

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elder_Sign"><img src="http://www.miskatonic.net/pickman/mythos/prop/elder2.jpg"></a>

[Geza Echs]

Edit: DAMN YOU, RANDOM NEEEEEERD!

[Crayne]

I had to ask him if there was an specific reason he used "may" instead of "can." He told me it was because when the lines were first written, in a letter sent by Lovecraft to one of his many correspondents, he wrote "may."

In the published story, however, was the word "can."

The guy seemed pretty knowledgeable about HPL, so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. Of course, 99% of the geeks out there are going to snigger anyway...

Fer

[Evil Dr Ganymede]

I wouldn't get it as a tattoo, though. On the other hand I'm seriously considering a Pratchett quote for my tombstone* so I shouldn't complain.

Of course, the lovecraft quote would be great on a tombstone...

[Eric Lofgren]

Sort of a tangent, I know. But I've always been partial to

"Hybrid Children watch the Sea.
Pray for Father Roaming Free."

From The Thing That Should Not Be by Metallica. I know it's not nearly as powerful as the other, but my appreciation of Metallica shot up a dozen points after I heard that song.

I'd love to get a Cthulhu shoulder piece, myself :)

[GrimGent]

Of course, the lovecraft quote would be great on a tombstone..."So, happier than I had ever dared hope to be, I dissolved again into that native infinity of crystal oblivion from which the daemon Life had called me for one brief and desolate hour" wouldn't be too bad, either.

[Erik Sieurin]

I'll just steal one from Swedish author Fritiof Nilsson Piraten, whose tombstone says: Here rests a man who always procrastinated. However, he bettered himself in his final days, and REALLY died on... (date of death follows) It fits me well, unfortunately... :(

And geek rumour has it that a vandal wrote the graffitti THE STARS ARE RIGHT! on poor HPL's tombstone... :p

Erik