| |
| O WHAT 1 is man? or whereof might he vaunt? | |
| From earth and aire and ashes first he came: | |
| His tickle state his courage ought to daunt; | |
| His life shall flit when most he trusts the same. | |
| Then keepe in minde thy moolde and fickle stame: | 5 |
| Thyself a naked Adam shalt thou finde; | |
| A babe by birth both borne and brought forth blind; | |
| A drie and withered reede, that wanteth sap, | |
| Whose rotten roote is refte euen at a clap; | |
| A signe, a shew of greene and pleasant grasse, | 10 |
| Whose glyding glorie sodeinlie doth passe: | |
| |
| A lame and lothsome limping-legged wight, | |
| That daily doth God’s frowne and furie feel; | |
| A crooked cripple, voide of all delight, | |
| That haleth after him an haulting heele, | 15 |
| And from Hieruselem on stilts doth reele: | |
| A wretch of wrath, a sop in sorrow sowst, | |
| A brused barke with billows all bedowst; | |
| A filthie cloth, a stinking clod of clay; | |
| A sacke of sinne that shall be swallowed aye | 20 |
| Of thousand hels, except the Lord do lend | |
| His helping hand, and lowring browes vnbend. | |
| |
| The prime of youth, whose greene vnmellowd yeres | |
| With hoised head doth check the loftie skies, | |
| And set vp saile, and sternlesse ships ysteares, | 25 |
| With wind and wave at pleasure sure he flies: | |
| On euery side then glance his rolling eies, | |
| Yet hoary haires do cause them downe to drowp, | |
| And stealing steps of age do make him stoup. | |
| Our health that doth the web of wo begin, | 30 |
| And pricketh forth our pampred flesh to sin, | |
| By sicknesse soakt in many maladies, | |
| Shall turne our mirth to mone and howling cries. | |
| |
| The wreathed haire of perfect golden wire, | |
| The christall eies, the shining angel’s face, | 35 |
| That kindles coales to set the heart on fire, | |
| When we doe thinke to runne a royall race, | |
| Shall sodeinlie be gauled with disgrace: | |
| Our goods, our beautie, and our braue araie, | |
| That seemes to set our hearts on hoigh for aie, | 40 |
| Much like the tender floure in fragrant fields, | |
| Whose sugred sap sweet-smelling sauour yeelds, | |
| Though we therein doe dailie laie our lust, | |
| By dint of death shall vanish vnto dust. | |
| |
| Why seeke ye then this lingring life to saue, | 45 |
| A hugie heape of bale and miserie? | |
| Why loue we longer daies on earth to craue, | |
| Where carke, and care, and all calamitie, | |
| Where nought we finde but bitter ioylitie? | |
| The longer that we liue, the more we fall; | 50 |
| The more we fall, the greater is our thrall: | |
| The shorter life doth make the lesse account; | |
| To lesse account the reckning soone doth mount; | |
| And then the reckning brought to quiet end | |
| A ioyfull state of better life doth lend. | 55 |
| |
| Thou, God, therefore, that rules the rolling skie, | |
| Thou, Lord, that lends the props whereon we staie, | |
| And turnes the spheares, and tempers all on hie, | |
| Come, come in hast, to take vs hence awaie! | |
| Thy goodnesse shall we then engraue for aie, | 60 |
| And sing a song of endlesse thankes to thee, | |
| That deignest so from death to set vs free, | |
| Redeeming vs from depth of dark decaie: | |
| With foure and twentie elders shall we saie, | |
| “To him be glorie, power, and praise alone, | 65 |
| That with the Lambe doth sit in loftie throne.” | |
