The poem
They are not long, the weeping and the laughter, Love and desire and hate: I think they have no portion in us after We pass the gate.
They are not long, the days of wine and roses: Out of a misty dream Our path emerges for a while, then closes Within a dream.
[The title translates, from the Latin, as 'The brief sum of life forbids us the hope of enduring long' and is from a work by Horace]
I heard of this poem first from its use in the movie, "Laura" starring Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, et al. Its content was integral to the mind of the character. I asked the Nuns at the Notre Dame school, in Belmont California. to translate and received no reasonable translation!
we've discussed this great poem in class not long ago.through this poem DOWSON is telleng to us,young people that we better make a good use of our"days of wine an roses",which is refferred to the days of our youth,'cause according to him(dowson),they might be,in fact there is no tomorrow".these 2 lines"i think they have no portion in us after we pass the gate" simply mean that these beautiful,wonderlful days are no longer coming back,once we die