A Churchyard Thought— Brevity of Life. "As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more."-Psalm ciii. 15, 16. "Qual fummo in aere, ed in acqua la schiuma."-DANTE. "Nix, rosa, ros, fumus, ventus et aura, nihil."-BERNAR BAUHUSIUS. SAY, what is human life, and whereunto Shall I compare it ? 'Tis a tiny cloud Borne where the sun shines bright, and storms are loud, Onward, athwart the illimitable blue, Until it wastes itself in tearful dew : A lily o'er its garden-compeers proud A falling star quench'd in eternity :- A wine-cup shiver'd when 'tis drain'd :-'tis like Whate'er is bright, or sad, or small, or brief. A Churchyard Thought— Life. 66 'Behold the child, by nature's kindly law, EACH thinks he lives, the happy Boy who rules, Oh, cheat! oh, mockery! oh, snare to lure Another Churchyard Thought.-Spirits. τίς δ ̓ οἶδεν εἴ ζῆν τοῦθ ̓ ἀπόκληται θανεῖν.—ΕURIPIDES. "He that hath found some fledg'd bird's nest may know, At first sight, if the bird be flown; But what fair field or grove he sings in now, That is to him unknown."-HENRY VAUGHAN. "If yet your gentle souls fly in the air, WHERE are the spirits that informed the dead? Continuous, or sleep on a dreamless sleeping— Another Churchyard Thought-Immortality of the Soul. "When I see nothing annihilated, and not even a drop of water wasted, I cannot suspect the annihilation of souls."-FRANKLYN'S Letters. "Morte carent animæ: semperque priore relictâ THIS all my knowledge, this my faith and trust, Dies not; but freed by death from the control It puts on some new change. If with the Just Of stars it wanders with no earthward lust, College Boom s. "These haunts are where they should be, at home, not sleeping or concocting the surfeits of an irregular feast, but up and stirring; in winter, often ere the sound of any bell awakes man to labour or devotion; in summer, as oft with the bird that first rouses, or not much tardier, to read good authors, or cause them to be read, till the attention be weary, or memory have its full fraught."-MILTON. FLING wide the casement, for the morning breeze And o'er their half-built nests with welcome scream Be labour lighten'd by luxurious ease; Up to the oriel window wheel the chair; And ponder tasks which please, or ought to please:- With spirit lustreless, and body bent, Shall rise each morning unrefresh'd, and sigh |