ubi sunt

ubi sunt, a verse form in which the poem or its stanzas begin with the Latin words ubi sunt (“where are …”) or their equivalent in another language and which has as a principal theme the transitory nature of all things. A well-known example is François Villon’s “Ballade des dames du temps jadis” (“Ballade of the Ladies of Bygone Times”), with its refrain “Mais où sont les neiges d’antan?’’ (“But where are the snows of yesteryear?”).