New Year's Poem 2025

[Anonymoose]

It's that time of year, again! The... beginning of it, that is...

Please don't hesitate to correct transcriptions or translations.

ENGLISH

Never stop. Never turn back.
He who stops with ne'er endure.
He who turns back will ne'er be more.

—From the Diary of a Young Man

JAPANESE

立ち止まることは許されない
We can't stop.

進み続けなければ　命が消えてしまうのだから
If we don't continue, our lives will end.

振り返ることは許されない
We can't look back.

進化を果たさなければ　未来は消えてしまうのだから
If we don't evolve, our future will disappear.


ある少年の記録より
—From the diary of a young boy


(Thanks for the assistance, again, Ein!)

GERMAN

Es gibt kein Zurück, nur das Geradeaus
There is no turning back, we go straight ahead.

Bleibst du stehen, erlöschen Leben.
If we stop, lives will be lost.

Ein Blick, nach hinten bedeutet das Aus
Looking back means the end.

Nur Fortschritt kann unseren Weg gun Zukunft ebnen
Progress alone will pave the way to our future.


Aus den Memoiren eines Jungen
—From the memoires of a boy

FRENCH

Nulle halte ne devrait être permise,
No halting should be permitted,

car la recherche sauvera nos existences.
because research will preserve our existence.

Nulle nostalgie ne saurait être de mise,
No nostalgia should be permitted,

Seule l'évolution empêche notre décadence.
Only evolution prevents our decline.


Journal d'un jeune garçon
—Journal of a young boy

COMBINED PANSLATION

No one stops.
With our lives at stake, our feet must move ever onward.
No one looks back.
With our future at stake, our eyes must look ever forward.



I think this one's giving Solution IX vibes.

Alexandria's entire history is adapting to survive. Preservation. If they stop adapting to the crises they face now, looking back with nostalgia on the regulators and the endless, their future is doomed.



Damn, Deryk, this really is a FFXIV plot themes supermix.



--From the Records of Things the Ancients Probably Should Have Said

[Cleretic]

I usually don't put much stock into these and let it pass, but when a friend linked this on a discord server, I had a reflexive realization. The English version is the one that doesn't mention research, futures, or evolution. And when you strip away those specifics, this is the myth of Orpheus.

And that myth does broadly link up with the themes of Solution Nine and Alexandria, now that I'm thinking about it. Like Orpheus, Alexandria trying to look back to their lost loved ones is what caused them to be separated; they made Living Memory to enshrine them, only to forget they ever existed.

[Calysto]

Could be related to some elements of FF9 too, the "young man/boy" could be akin to Djidane or Vivi.

The "We" could also be some kind of hive-mind-primal (Electrope ?)