Comparing Archilochus and Adele

Lyrics by Adele:

"Never mind, I'll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you too
Don't forget me, I beg
I'll remember you said,
'Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead,
Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead.'"

Excerpt from Archilochus:

"swollen lungs. But for evils that have no cure,
my friend, the gods have ordained stern endurance
as remedy. These things go by turns, now it is to us
that they have shifted, and we groan at the bloody wound,
but soon they will pass to others. Come now, with all speed
endure, and thrust aside this womanish grief."

At first glance these are written in entirely different styles, based in cultures that are half a world and centuries away. But the emotional themes of the pieces are timeless and founded upon human nature itself. Both discuss seemingly unendurable pain of loss, tragedy, or some other grief. Adele says "Never mind, I'll find someone like you" in the same way that Archilochus reassures his friend by reminding him that "soon they [these evils] will pass to others." Both take comfort in the future, in the knowledge (or faith) that those things too would pass away, and there would be happiness eventually. Adele, however, seems more hopeless in her lyrics than Archilochus in his, as she only hopes for a different version of the man she loves, thinking she will never be able to love another, while Archilochus seems to destine others to take his pain later. Also, the writers each comment on the capriciousness of these evils, pointing out their senselessness and inequity: Adele bleakly points out that "sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead," while Archilochus says "these things go by turns, now it is to us that they have shifted." In both pieces, the emotional distress is beautifully portrayed.