Stet quicunque volet potens
Aulae culmine lubrico etc.
Climb at Court for me that will
Tottering Favour's slipp'ry hill.
All I seek is to lye still.
Settled in some secret Nest
In calm Leisure let me rest;
And far off the publick Stage
Pass away my silent Age.
Thus when without noise, unknown,
I have liv'd out all my span,
The image of a stage could possibly reflect the idea that a life based on the public’s favour is much like a play: entertaining and often emotional but unreal. If you don’t have an in-depth self-knowledge, you end up acting.
The second Chorus from Senecas Tragedy Thyestes