  The semiclassical Euclidean path integral method is applied to compute the
low temperature quantum decay rate for a particle placed in the metastable
minimum of a cubic potential in a {\it finite} time theory. The classical path,
which makes a saddle for the action, is derived in terms of Jacobian elliptic
functions whose periodicity establishes the one-to-one correspondence between
energy of the classical motion and temperature (inverse imaginary time) of the
system. The quantum fluctuation contribution has been computed through the
theory of the functional determinants for periodic boundary conditions. The
decay rate shows a peculiar temperature dependence mainly due to the softening
of the low lying quantum fluctuation eigenvalues. The latter are determined by
solving the Lam\`{e} equation which governs the fluctuation spectrum around the
time dependent classical bounce.
